Twenty Five Roses
by fallinrain
Summary: Along with every rose will be a message from me in one form or another. Each message will contain two things. The first is a reason why I love you. The second is a clue to the location of the next rose." Ryelsi with hints of other canon couples.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**A/N: I had this idea for a while now, but haven't been able to get on and post anything of it until now. This is a Valentine's Day story for all you Ryelsi fans. Pretty ironic since I actually hate V-Day with a passion. But this idea just wouldn't leave me alone so I had to write it. As far as I know we never found out when Kelsi's birthday was so in this universe her birthday falls on V-Day. Apparently I'm just not able to write a holiday themed story and have it done by the actual holiday which is technically today here since it's after midnight. My goal is to make this five chapters but we'll see what happens. It should work out pretty well that way. Assuming anyone reads this today, I'll have the next part up late tonight which my other goal being to have it completed by next weekend at the latest. Ideally, I'd get a chapter up five days in a row and be done so it's not completed too long after Valentine's Day. This is technically a sequel to my Christmas story (The Secret of Christmas) and is set several years later when Kelsi is turning 25. While a few things from the Christmas story are referred to here, it's nothing that'll affect this story so don't worry if you didn't read that one. And yeah, this story is basically one giant heap of fluff. Hope you all like this one.**** Let me know what you think!**

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Kelsi Nielsen wasn't happy. It was February 13th and she was in her apartment in New York City with her boyfriend since their senior year of high school, Ryan Evans. That in and of itself wasn't why she wasn't happy. No, the reason for her current state of unhappiness was the fact that Ryan would be flying out of the city that night to take care of something for his father. Kelsi had done just about everything she could think of to get him to change his mind and while he had apologized about a thousand times, it wasn't possible. Ryan felt completely awful about the whole thing but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Aside from continue to apologize and come over that night to have dinner with her before he left. If it had been any other time of the year, Kelsi wouldn't have cared. But the fact of the matter was that not only was tomorrow Valentine's Day, it also happened to be her birthday. She would be turning twenty-five and had absolutely no one to spend it with. Her parents were in Albuquerque and her friends were scattered around the country. Before this trip had come about, she had been perfectly content with spending the day with Ryan – looked forward to it, in fact. But then everything had changed.

"I really am sorry, Kelsi." She couldn't help smiling as he said it once again. She may not have been happy about the situation, but she was having a hard time being mad at him about it. After all, it wasn't his fault.

"I know," she assured him. "It's okay."

"No it's not," he argued. "I wish I didn't have to go."

"Me too." She sighed and snuggled up to him on her couch, yawning as she did so. "When do you have to leave?" He glanced at the clock across the room.

"In a little less than an hour," he answered, letting out a sigh of his own. He kissed the top of her head. "I wish I didn't have to go."

"Me too," she yawned again and he chuckled. It was a little early in the evening for her to be so tired, but she had had a tough day at work and hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. As a result, she had nearly fallen asleep while they ate.

"Okay, that's it," he decided. "You need to get some sleep."

"You're leaving?" she sounded so sad at the idea that he couldn't help kissing the top of her head again.

"Not right this second," he promised. "Why don't you go change and whatever else you have to do? I'll stay with you until you fall asleep." He smiled. "I don't think that'll take very long." He watched as she reluctantly got up and headed into her bedroom to change. As soon as the door closed, he picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed a number. "Hey...everything's good here...well she's not happy, but she doesn't seem to suspect anything...is everything okay on your end?...Great!...thanks for helping out with this, I really appreciate it...I'll talk to you later...bye."

"Who was that?" Ryan jumped at the sound of Kelsi's voice.

"That was fast," he commented. She shrugged.

"Not much to do," she yawned and it seemed to annoy her.

"Yeah...you definitely need sleep," he nodded and hopped off the couch to join her. "Come on."

"The phone?" she asked, leaning against him as they walked back to her bedroom.

"Oh that was just my dad making sure everything was all set," he replied. She nodded once and it occurred to him that she would more than likely be asleep within minutes. Upon reaching her bed, she crawled into it and turned over onto her side. She reached out a hand to him and he took it, sitting down next to her on the bed. "Tomorrow won't be that bad."

"Yeah right." She let out a huff. "Alone and by myself on Valentine's Day...and my birthday. Sounds like a lot of fun."

"I'll call you throughout the day," he promised. "And I'll make it up to you."

"You better," she said sleepily, letting her eyes close. He reached over and gently brushed her hair from her face, humming softly as he did so. "Love you Ryan."

"I love you too," he said softly, leaning down to kiss her cheek. She smiled faintly and he sat there for a few more minutes. When he was certain she was asleep, he carefully got up and quietly put the beginning of his plan in motion. He smiled to himself as he headed out of the apartment, stopping to lock the door with the key she had given him before leaving. Kelsi didn't know it, but she was about to have a Valentine's Day slash birthday that she would never forget.

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Kelsi woke up slowly, half hoping to find Ryan still sitting on the bed beside her and knowing that he wouldn't be. She rolled over with a sigh.

"Happy birthday to me," she muttered. She had just decided to try and get some more sleep when something on her bedside table caught her attention. She propped herself up and saw a beautiful white rose. Next to it was a folded up piece of paper with her name written on top in Ryan's handwriting. Feeling more awake now, she reached over and carefully grabbed the rose first and held it up to her nose to smell it. She loved roses. Loved the way they looked and loved the sweet way they smelled. Ryan, of course, knew of her love for roses and she was touched that he had thought to leave her one. She smiled as she set it back down on the table and picked up the note. She flopped back onto her back as she opened it and started to read...

_Good morning beautiful_,

_First things first: happy birthday! And happy Valentine's Day! You didn't seriously think I'd leave you all alone on today of all days and not leave something behind, did you? You really should know me better than that if you did. This, by the way, is only the first thing you will be getting from me today. In honor of your twenty-fifth birthday, throughout the day you will be receiving twenty-five roses. One for every year. I thought about just leaving you a bouquet or two, but that's no fun. It's also way too easy. You're going to have to work for your roses, so to speak. Along with every rose will be a message from me in one form or another. Each message will contain two things. The first is a reason why I love you. The second is a clue to the location of the next rose._

_You may be wondering why you're starting the day out with a white rose instead of a red one, though I promise you that red roses are coming. White roses symbolize innocence and purity and those are two words I would use to describe you. Especially in high school. That was actually one of the first things that intrigued me about you in the first place. Being involved in theater and having a sister like mine means that I've seen how ruthless people can be. You don't have a ruthless bone in your body, Kelsi. You lived through Sharpay's reign of terror and all the drama that went on at Julliard and are still the same sweet, innocent person you were in the beginning. That's one of the most beautiful things about you. You're my own personal breath of fresh air in a world that can get pretty mean sometimes. Knowing that there are still people like you in this world is sometimes one of the only things that keep me going. And it's one of the many, many reasons why I love you. _

_As far as your clue, all I'll say is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Make sure you grab something to eat before you continue on this little scavenger hunt that I'm putting you on. You'll hear from me later. I love you more than you could possibly imagine._

_Until your next note,_

_Ryan_

In the years that she had been dating Ryan, Kelsi should have almost expected that he would come up with something like this. After all, the two of them had started dating while he had planned several activities to help get her in the Christmas spirit their senior year. Ryan definitely had a talent for making grand gestures and always enjoyed making them. Kelsi smiled as she reread his note, touched by his sweet words. She then set the note back on her bedside table and hurried into the kitchen to where she was convinced he had placed the next rose. Sure enough, there was a beautiful rose with the accompanying note lying right next to her teapot where she'd be sure to see it. This time the rose was yellow. She headed over and picked up the note, leaning against the counter as she read…

_Hello again,_

_As you've noticed, this second rose is yellow. The yellow rose symbolizes joy and friendship. I chose this for your second rose because we were friends before we were anything else. I think that's one of the reasons why our relationship is so strong. You are, without question, my best friend. I know I can talk to you about anything and everything and vice versa. I also know that no matter what happens in our lives, that there is absolutely nothing that could destroy our friendship. I love you for not only being a wonderful girlfriend, but for also being the best friend I could ever have. _

_You know, it occurs to me that since you're going to be collecting so many roses it may be a good idea to have something to put them in. Check out the table by your TV and I think you may find something that'll work. _

_Love you,_

_Ryan_

"Aw Ryan," Kelsi whispered to herself, finding a smile spread across her face once again. He was right: they were best friends and would always be. Her smile stayed in place as she headed towards the table he had mentioned and gasped when she saw the brightly wrapped present sitting on it. Shaking her head, she walked over to it and noticed another yellow rose lying on top of it. The note that also lay on the present was short and to the point...

_This is from my parents. I know they'll want to talk to you after you open it and they just might have a clue for you._

_-Ryan_

Kelsi wasted no more time in opening the present and let out another gasp as she pulled out a beautiful crystal vase. She was certain that she didn't want to know how much it had cost. Sometimes it was so easy to forget how wealthy Derby and Vance Evans were since they were so laid back and kind. They had presented her with beautiful gifts that she never wanted to accept several times over the years . Kelsi didn't want them to feel they needed to spend so much money on her, but the truth was that this was their way of showing her how much they cared about her. Derby and Vance had practically become a second set of parents to her and so Kelsi had learned pretty quickly to just accept their gifts with a thank you – especially since they were always so insistent that she keep everything anyway. She let out a soft chuckle as she dialed their phone number.

"Hello?" Kelsi was surprised to find that it was Derby who answered the phone. Usually it was one of the housekeepers.

"Derby? It's Kelsi..." Kelsi started.

"Oh! Vance, pick up another phone, it's Kelsi!" Derby exclaimed happily. "Happy birthday sweetheart!"

"Happy birthday, Kelsi," Vance added as he picked up another phone to join the conversation.

"Thank you! Both of you. The vase is beautiful!" Kelsi paused. "Even if I don't want to ever know how much it cost. It's stunning."

"You're very welcome, dear," Derby laughed. "I'm so happy you finally decided just to accept our gifts instead of arguing about them."

"Well in my experience, it's easier not to argue with an Evans. I never win!" Kelsi exclaimed. Both Derby and Vance laughed in response.

"I think you've probably won a few with Ryan," Vance argued.

"I'm so happy you called, Kelsi," Derby said. "Though we were expecting it what with Ryan's plan and all."

"That's some son you two raised," Kelsi said softly. "He treats me so much better than I deserve. I can't believe all the planning he must've done to pull this one off."

"You have no idea," Vance chuckled. "Your day is just beginning."

"Speaking of which, I think that we should probably help Kelsi out on her search, don't you think dear?" Derby asked.

"Go ahead," Vance agreed.

"First, the rose. I believe he already wrote you about your friendship, yes?"

"Yes," Kelsi confirmed.

"Well then, we're here to talk to you about the other meaning of the yellow rose that he mentioned. Joy. I can't even begin to tell you how much joy you have brought into his life. I wish you could hear how he talks about you; see how his face just lights up whenever someone says your name. Sometimes I don't think you know how happy you make him. In fact, based on your comment about him treating you better than you deserve, I'm certain of it. I wish you'd stop thinking that, sweetheart, because it's not true. He treats you like a princess because that's what you are to him. He loves you and because he does, he's willing to make the effort to let you know he does," Derby began. "It may surprise you to find out that sometimes he's not sure he deserves to be treated as well as you treat him too."

"What?" Kelsi was stunned.

"I really wish you two wouldn't be so hard on yourselves in that respect. It's not about how deserving you are; it's about being in love. You guys treat each other so well because you love each other so much. It's really that simple," Derby said gently. "Kelsi, you can make him smile even if he's having the worst day of his life. You make him laugh and you have fun together. He could spend an entire day with you doing absolutely nothing at all and still be content." Derby's voice grew thoughtful. "You know, as parents, there is nothing we want for our children more than for them to be safe and happy. As they both got older, we started hoping and praying that they would meet the right people to make them happy. We worried sometimes about both of them, but we hit the jackpot with you and Zeke. There couldn't be anyone better suited for either of them and you should know that we, Vance and I, will always love you and Zeke as our own. Thank you so much for being such a ray of sunshine in Ryan's life." Derby paused and both she and Kelsi sniffled. "Thank you for being such a source of joy, not only to our son but to us as well."

"Oh…" Kelsi sniffled again, touched beyond words.

"We love you Kelsi," Vance said softly.

"I love you both," Kelsi whispered in response.

"Now," Vance started and Kelsi could hear the smile in his voice. "Ryan wanted us to remind you of a certain spot on the Julliard campus. A place where you loved to practice the piano as often as you could." Kelsi nodded to herself, knowing exactly what he was talking about. She finished her conversation with Derby and Vance and then headed back into her bedroom to get dressed for the day.

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It was weird being back on the Julliard campus, Kelsi mused as she parked by the building that held all of the practice rooms. It had been a couple of years since they had graduated and neither one had been by there in a while. As she made her way to the room that had been her favorite to practice in, Kelsi was flooded by memories of the time she spent here. She knocked softly when she reached the room, not wanting to barge in on anyone who may be in there. She then slowly opened the door and found another rose lying on the piano. This time it was a beautiful shade of light pink. She was surprised to find a tape recorder next to it instead of a note. A Post-it note with the words "play me" was stuck on it. Kelsi peeled off the note and hit play.

Kelsi felt her eyes sting with tears as she listened to Ryan singing a medley of songs she had written while they were in high school. "_I've never had someone that knows me like you do, the way you do. I've never had someone as good for me as you, no one like you...When I hear my favorite song, I know that we belong. You are the music in me...Everyday of our lives, wanna find you there, wanna hold on tight...All I wanna do, is be with you, be with you. There's nothing we can do, just wanna be with you, only you. No matter where life takes us nothing can break us apart. You know it's true, I just wanna be with you._"

There was a pause and then he started talking. "Sometimes I wonder if you know how talented you are, Kelsi. You write songs from your heart, songs that I can't help but feel. All of those lyrics I sang just now...they're all so true. There's never been anyone that knows me as well as you do and there can't possibly be anyone better for me than you. Your music inspires me; it gives me a reason to dance when I don't feel like it. You are my music," Ryan began. When he spoke again, she could hear the smile in his voice. "I do want to find you there everyday and hold on to you as much as I can. And at the end of the day, the thing that I want more than anything else is just to be with you... I chose pink for this flower because the pink rose; particularly the light pink rose like that one is; is a symbol of admiration. As we've gone through high school and Julliard and now as we're working on our dreams in the real world, I've watched your talent grow. You're so dedicated to your craft and you put so much of yourself in your work. It's another reason why I love you so much," his voice had grown softer as he spoke, but when he started talked again he sounded more upbeat. "Okay now if I know you like I think I do, you're probably in tears right now. While that was sort of the goal, I don't want you to be crying for too long and actually think there's something I can do about that. Remember our old dorm? It might be a good idea to head on over there for a visit. You just might come across someone that you'll be happy to see. I hope you're having a good day so far. There's still plenty of surprises in store for you, so you better get going. Oh, and one more thing?" His voice grew soft again. "I love you."

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Kelsi had all practically flown to their old dormitory in hopes that it would be Ryan who was going to be the person she'd be happy to see. She still had a lot of roses left, but she couldn't imagine how Ryan could find something to say and do for each one. As it was she was already dying for the chance to hold him in her arms and thank him properly for all the trouble he had gone to and all the sweet words he had already written. Or spoken in the case of the last message. She was out of breath when she finally reached the building and she came to a stop in the middle of the main room. She scanned the room and felt her heart sink slightly when she saw no sign of Ryan. She was about to wonder if maybe she should head up to her old room when she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, small person!" There was only one person in the world who called her that and it wasn't Ryan. Even so, it was someone she'd be happy to see. She spun around and grinned as she came face to face with the person in question: Chad Danforth. He returned her grin with one of his own. "Happy birthday!"

"Chad!" she exclaimed, stepping forward to give him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a phone call from Evans," he laughed. "When he told me what he was planning, I couldn't wait to help. And speaking of helping..." He held out another pink rose, one she hadn't even noticed he was holding. He cleared his throat. "I can't believe I'm about to talk to you about roses," he muttered and Kelsi laughed. "Apparently aside from being a symbol of admiration, this shade of rose also means gentleness. That's something else he loves about you. You have a gentle spirit, Kelsi. It allowed you to be friends with Ryan even while dealing with the whirlwind that was his sister in her Ice Queen days. It allowed you to reach out to Troy and Gabriella with no other intent, in the beginning, other than to hear your song the way you wrote it." Chad paused as a new thought seemed to come to him. "You know, in a lot of ways your gentleness brought our group together."

"Gabriella brought our group together," Kelsi argued. She had always thought that was true. Because, after all, things didn't start to shake up until Gabriella had transferred to East High.

"Gabriella did have a big role in bringing the group together," Chad agreed. "But here's the thing – suppose you hadn't of been around. She would have still transferred and her and Hoops probably would've ended up together at some point. But as far as the rest? It wouldn't have happened. Troy and Gabriella got pulled into drama by accident, remember? You tripped and they went to help you and found that song. You got them to sing it and Ms. Darbus happened to hear it. The rest is history. If anyone was willing to start breaking down the lines between all the groups it was you. Because you didn't care that Troy was on the basketball team or that Gabriella was a brain – you just wanted to hear them sing your song. There were no ulterior motives and we both know what happened next." Chad shook his head. "If you hadn't of been the sweet person you are, all ten of us never would've been friends. I believe that completely."

"That's very sweet of you to say Chad but..." Kelsi started, but stopped when she saw him shaking his head.

"But nothing, small person," he said. He smiled at her. "You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"Head back to your apartment," he nodded and checked his watch. Kelsi raised an eyebrow.

"Would there be anyone waiting for us over there by any chance?" she asked.

"You catch on quick, Kelsi. I like that about you," he chuckled and flung an arm around her shoulders. "The question for you to consider is: who is it?"

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**A/N#2: Okay, I realize that roses left out for a few hours would probably be all wilted by the time she woke up but humor me. ;)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing and this disclaimer applies to every chapter of this story.**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and/or put this story on your alerts! I really appreciate that! A note about this chapter - there's a part where Kelsi remembers an incident with Ryan and things heat up a little bit. It's really not too bad and I probably don't need to put in warning, but for the sake of caution I am. Another thing I want to bring up is a decision Ryan and Kelsi made early in their relationship that we find out about. It's not meant to be preachy or anything and I don't think it comes across that way. If so, it wasn't intentional. This is just a decision I could see them making and I threw it in because it gave me another rose for her. Speaking of the roses, I have ideas for a few of the remaining roses (15 left after this chapter) but might need some help with ideas for the others. If you have one, let me know! Remember, all the rose is is a reason why Ryan loves her. It can be about anything. Don't worry about the color (unless you want to) - I can figure that out. Hope you all like this chapter! Reviews always appreciated.**

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Kelsi and Chad had just reached Kelsi's apartment building when her cell phone rang. Reaching in her purse to pick it up, she smiled as Ryan's name flashed across the screen. "Hi Ryan," she said as she answered.

"Hey birthday girl," he replied cheerfully. "How's your day been so far?"

"Well let's see..." she trailed off, noting that Chad had slowed his pace and was pretending to be fascinated by the surrounding buildings to try and give her some privacy. She focused her attention back on her phone call. "I woke up to a beautiful flower on my bedside table and a really sweet note. I've talked to your parents and been to the old practice room and now I'm hanging out with Chad. I can't believe you went through so much trouble." She paused as she considered what she had just said. "Actually I can, but it was still a surprise. A very nice surprise."

"I told you I'd make it up to you," he reminded her and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"That you did," she agreed. "But tell me – would you happen to be the person who's apparently waiting at my apartment?"

"No I wouldn't," he said softly. "But you'll be happy to see this person. Trust me."

"Okay," she sighed. "Ryan?"

"Yes?"

"Is there any chance I might be seeing you at some point today?" she asked.

"I guess you'll have to wait and see."

"Hmm...You didn't say no."

"I didn't say yes either," he reminded her.

"Right, but by not saying either what you're actually saying is that there's a possibility. Right?" He laughed.

"Well you know what they say, Kelsi. Anything is possible," he said lightly. "Like I said, you'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, I should probably let you go so you can see your guest. Well your other guest. You'll be hearing from me again later on."

"So I'll see you later then?"

"Nice try, Kelsi," he laughed again.

"It was worth an attempt," she chuckled. "Hey."

"What?"

"This was really sweet of you, Ryan," her voice grew tender. "I don't know many other girls who have boyfriends who go through all the trouble you go through for me and I...well it means a lot to me. That sounds lame but..."

"No, it doesn't," he cut in. "It's no trouble, Kelsi. I like doing it."

"I know that," she smiled though he couldn't see it. "That makes it all the more special. I love you."

"I love you too, baby," he said softly. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Ryan."

"Bye birthday girl." Kelsi hung up and looked back towards Chad; who was currently pretending to be studying a tree; and laughed.

"All right, come on," she said to him. "Let's go see who's waiting for us."

"I already know who it is," he reminded her, grinning. He opened up the door to the building for her and then followed her up to her apartment. They rounded a corner and Chad instinctively held his hands over his ears, anticipating a scream as Kelsi saw who it was. Sure enough, a split second later it came.

"Taylor!" Kelsi exclaimed.

"Kelsi! It's so good to see you!" Taylor replied, just as enthusiastically. Chad rolled his eyes while the two of them hugged and babbled on for a few seconds about this and that, though he couldn't help smiling. He and Taylor had gotten married a year and a half ago and neither one of them had seen Kelsi or Ryan since the wedding. Actually, they hadn't seen any of their high school friends since the wedding - with the exception of Troy and Gabriella that is.

"It feels like it's been forever!" Kelsi said.

"I know! We all need to find ways to see each other more often. I miss everyone!"

"Um ladies?" Chad spoke up, finally. "Not to interrupt the reunion, but we're on a schedule here."

"Since when do you care about schedules?" Kelsi asked and then chuckled. "When they don't involve basketball, that is."

"Since I married her," Chad replied, jerking his thumb in Taylor's direction. "I'm even getting more organized," he added, giving a mock shudder. "This whole marriage thing gets a little scary. Of course..." he trailed off, grinning at his wife. "Taylor has finally gotten a hold on the rules of basketball. Most of them anyway." Kelsi let out a mock gasp as she looked at Taylor.

"You? Getting into basketball?"

"Yeah well, it helps keep the peace. We're all about the peace and harmony right now," Taylor laughed. Kelsi raised an eyebrow. "Well...most of the time," she corrected.

"We try," Chad put in and the two of them exchanged a smile. "But really, we don't want to be late."

"Late?" Kelsi perked up. "For what?"

"Something. You'll see what," he replied innocently. "Taylor?"

"Yes, your rose." Taylor offered Kelsi her next rose. This one was a beautiful shade of burgundy. "As you've come to find out, each color comes with its own special meaning. The burgundy rose, while also being a symbol of elegance, stands for simplicity and beauty. Not just beauty but unconscious beauty. When we were in high school, you used to try so hard to blend into the background. You almost tried to make yourself invisible and it worked most of the time. Never for Ryan. He always saw you, Kelsi, and he always thought you were beautiful. But it's an unconscious kind of beauty because you don't even realize how beautiful you are, how beautiful he thinks you are. It's one more reason why he loves you."

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Inside the apartment, Kelsi added her new roses to her vase. She let her gaze linger on the burgundy one. "Unconscious beauty, huh?"

"It's a very appropriate description for you, I think," Taylor said, studying it as well.

"Where does Ryan come up with this stuff?" Kelsi asked, shaking her head.

"Speaking of this stuff..." Taylor started, glancing at Chad. He nodded.

"We're taking you on a trip," he finished.

"What?" Kelsi looked back and forth between them. "To where?"

"Albuquerque," both Taylor and Chad said at the same time. Kelsi blinked a couple of times.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," Taylor grinned. "You'll probably want to go into your room and pack enough stuff for a couple of days."

"But...my job...I can't just take off and leave!" Kelsi exclaimed.

"That's been taken care of," Chad assured her. "Ryan called your boss and worked it out."

"You're serious."

"Yes, we're serious! Go pack. There may be another present in there for you." At Kelsi's look, Taylor laughed. "We saw Ryan at the airport and he gave me your spare key so I came in before you got here."

"Why'd you wait outside the apartment then?" she asked. Taylor shrugged.

"I wasn't out there the whole time, but I got impatient."

"Now seriously – go pack already," Chad said. Kelsi shook her head again as she headed back into her bedroom. There on her bed sat her rolling suitcase and on top of that were three orange roses lying on top of another note.

"Oh Ryan," Kelsi sighed. "What does the orange rose mean, I wonder?" She sat down on her bed, moved both roses aside and then picked up the note...

_Hey baby,_

_You're starting to develop quite a colorful collection of roses, aren't you? You have white and yellow, pink and burgundy. Now, as you can clearly see, you have orange. Why are you getting three roses at once? It was easier that way, especially since there's still so many of them left. I decided to give you a little bit of a break. The orange rose has a lot of different meanings. The first one I'm going to mention is new beginnings. The yellow rose stands for friendship and the red rose for love – so the orange rose can symbolize the transition from one to the other. That is what one of your roses stands for. We had a pretty easy transition from friendship to a romantic relationship and I will always remember that time as a very sweet period of our relationship. I want you to remember that time as well. _

_The orange rose is also a symbol of passion and desire. I think if we asked any of our friends to describe our relationship in one word, that that word would be sweet. I don't think the words passion or desire would even come to any of their minds. After all, our relationship is much different than, say, Chad and Taylor's. We have what I would call a quiet kind of passion. It's there, but it's not always noticeable. One of your roses is for one of the defining moments of our relationship: our first fight. Remember that?_

Kelsi chuckled softly as she let herself remember that awful night. It had been during the last semester of their first year of college. Both of them had had about a million and a half things to do and absolutely no time to get it all done. They were both struggling with pressures from school and work and neither one had gotten much sleep in about a week. Kelsi couldn't even remember what had started the argument. The stress of that time had, quite simply, been more than either of them could handle and they had ended up taking it out on the one person who meant the most to them: each other. The fight had escalated quickly and pretty soon they were literally shouting at each other. Both had gone too far and said things they hadn't meant. Ryan had eventually stormed out of the dorm room, slamming the door as he left. Kelsi had flung herself on her bed, sobbing, and had cried herself to sleep. It was, without question, the worst fight they had ever had. The fight had certainly been a passionate one. Kelsi focused her attention back on his letter...

_I'll probably always remember that night as being one of the worst of my life. After I left, I had been torn between still being mad at the things you had said and feeling like the biggest jerk in the whole world for making you cry. It still breaks my heart to think that you cried yourself to sleep that night because of me, though I know you've long since forgiven me. So why a rose to commemorate the event? Because it was a milestone for us. A bad one, admittedly, but a milestone all the same. We learned a lot from that fight and now one of the things I love about you, and about us, is that we've learned how to disagree without having a major blowup like that. It made our relationship stronger. _

_As far as your third rose? Well that one actually ties into the second one because it was inspired by the same event. Or, more specifically, the morning after. That was a different kind of passion all together. _

Kelsi was suddenly extremely grateful that she was all alone in her room while Chad and Taylor stayed out in her living room. She could feel her face heat up as it was and the last thing she needed was for one of them, especially Chad, asking about it. She remembered that morning very well. She had been woken up by her roommate at the time; a friendly girl named Annie that Kelsi was still friends with. The dorm they were living in was actually more of a suite with a couple of bedrooms and a living area. Annie had been on her way to her first class when she opened the door and found Ryan looking completely miserable on the other side. Kelsi had taken her time getting up and dressed, partly wanting to make him wait and partly scared to see him again. She had slowly made her way into the room and for a moment the two of them had just looked at each other. She had never seen him looking so awful, before or since. He had still been wearing what he had been wearing the day before and hadn't shaved. The two of them had taken a few steps towards each other and he had been the first to speak.

"I'm sorry." He had whispered the words and then moved closer to her. Her eyes had instantly filled with tears and he had very cautiously put his hands on either side of her face. "I'm so sorry." He had kissed her forehead and then other parts of her face, pausing between each kiss to apologize. She had let out a sob and had apologized as well. She had given him a soft peck on his lips and then another. And another until they had both leaned in for a longer kiss. When that had ended, they had just looked at each other for a few seconds and then it was almost as if the air had visibly changed around them. The kiss had slowly built in intensity until it had reached a point that could only be described as electric. They had ended up on the couch and Kelsi had remembered feeling like she was practically on fire. She also remembered knowing where they would end up if this kept up and thinking that it would probably be wise for them to stop. Before she could make any attempt at stopping, however, his lips had moved to her neck and all rational thoughts had flown right out of her head. The phone had rung at that point and she had said something about ignoring it, which he had been all too happy to do. The answering machine had picked up and a voice had come on. Out of all the people in the world that it could have been, it had been Kelsi's father. They had managed to ignore him until he made some joke about hoping that her and Ryan were behaving themselves and that if not, he might have to make good on a threat jokingly made years before about buying a gun. Ryan had pulled away from Kelsi so fast that it was almost comical. Kelsi grinned as she remembered how she had tried to convince him to ignore the message, but it had been no use. She focused her attention back on his letter and was again grateful that she was alone...

_We had a close call that morning, though I can't say I hated it. We've had countless more close calls since. Our relationship may not be marked by a never-ending flow of passion, but it's still there. It's just a quiet kind of passion like I wrote earlier. That's a term I would use to describe you as well. You have that sweetness about you and can still be shy, but it doesn't mean you have no passion. It shows up in your music and it shows up in some of your kisses. Every now and then you surprise me with one so intense that it makes me momentarily forget my own name. Forget everything, even, that's not you. I love that you feel so comfortable with me that you can let go like that. Though it's probably a good thing you keep that under wraps a lot of the time because otherwise I wouldn't be able to get anything done. You have the ability to make me absolutely crazy and half the time you don't even know you're doing it. But hey, I don't hate it. In fact I absolutely love it._

_And I love you,_

_Ryan_

_P.S – If I know you like I do, you've probably turned an interesting shade of pink right about now. You might want to go to your bathroom and splash some cold water on your pretty face before you go back out to Chad and Taylor. _

Kelsi laughed softly as she finished his letter – he really did know her well. She was once more eternally grateful that she had been able to read this letter in private. She slipped into her bathroom and was surprised to find a white rose taped to the mirror. The accompanying note lay underneath it, folded in half on the sink. She picked it up to read it...

_Before I explain this rose, I want you to take a look at yourself in the mirror. _

Kelsi's brow furrowed as she looked in the mirror. She noted that her face was still pink, though it was starting to resume its normal color. Aside from that there didn't seem to be anything worth commenting on. She glanced back at the note.

_I know I talked about your innocence in your first rose, but I wanted to bring it up again to write about a different type of innocence. I was thinking about a conversation we had after we had been dating for a couple of months. You had slowly turned about as pink as I imagine you are now as you told me there was something you wanted me to know, especially if things were going to get more serious. We had gone for a walk after school and ended up at the park. We sat down on one of the benches and you had turned toward me and grabbed for my hand. Then you let go of it. And then grabbed it again. I put my other hand over yours and asked you what was wrong since you seemed so nervous. You kept your gaze on our hands and told me how you had decided to wait until marriage. You knew other girls in our grade who slept around and had decided that while that might work for them, it just wasn't for you. _

_I remember you were so worried that I was going to break up with you right then over it. You were, of course, wrong. It was something new to love about you. How you were so willing to do what was right for you even if it wasn't the most popular decision in the world. I really respected that about you and still do. You can look at yourself in the mirror and know that you still have your innocence. Your decision brought me to the same one. People who know we're waiting always seem to think that we're weird. That's fine with me. I don't care what people think. It's the right decision for us and for our relationship. It can be a hard road to take sometimes but we've managed to avoid crossing that line. I believe that when the day that we do cross that line comes – after we walk down that aisle as I believe we will someday – that it'll be that much sweeter because we made the decision to wait. And for the record, I would wait forever for you because you are worth waiting for. _

_Love,_

_Ryan_

Kelsi finished the letter and then wiped away a tear that had started to roll its way down her cheek. She was so lucky to have a boyfriend like Ryan who respected her so completely and she made a mental note to tell him so the next time she saw him. She set the letter down and quickly splashed some cold water on her face, taking care not to get the letter wet. A knock on the door made her jump.

"Hey Kelsi, I don't want to rush you but we should probably make sure we leave in about half an hour so we can make our flight," Taylor called from the other side.

"Okay," Kelsi called back. She carefully peeled the tape off the mirror so she could retrieve the rose and then set about getting all her things together for trip. While she did so, she couldn't help wondering yet again if she would see Ryan that day. It seemed that with every new rose and message that she missed him a little bit more. She wasn't the type of girl who needed to be around her boyfriend continuously in order to be happy; she didn't consider herself to be the clingy type at all. But there she was, not even twelve hours since she had last seen him, practically desperate to be in his arms again. It seemed like with every rose that she not only discovered a new reason why he loved her, but that she kept discovering new things to love about him. As she packed, she found herself shooting up a prayer to God in heaven above. A prayer that she would, indeed, get to see her beloved Ryan by the end of the day.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone whose either reviewed, favorited or put this story on alert! I just looked at my statistics page and noticed that out of all my stories that this one is in a tie for second in terms of alerts and is my third most favorited story - the most favorited of all my HSM stories. I'm so happy everyone seems to like this story that much! You all rock! There's only two roses given in this chapter and the reason for that is that in both cases, Kelsi flashes back to memories associated with each rose and each got fairly long. I liked them both too much to cut them down and the next rose has a long memory with it too, so I decided just to go with two so this wasn't insanely long. There'll be three in the next chapter and then after that I'll go back to five. Have the next three figured out and a couple of the rest, but ideas for roses would be appreciated if you have any. Again, don't worry about the color (unless you want to). I hope you all like this chapter! Let me know what you think! **

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"Oh my gosh," Kelsi exclaimed as her, Chad and Taylor reached the gate to make their flight. She hadn't been very surprised to find out that Ryan had arranged for them to take one of his father's private jets to Albuquerque. After all, it wasn't the first time a jet had been used on her behalf. What she had been surprised to find, however, was none other than Troy Bolton waiting for them. "Troy!" She rushed forward to give him a hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Why do you think I'm here, Play Maker?" he asked, grinning at her. "Ryan wanted me to help out so here I am. There's someone else you know already on the jet waiting, but first things first. Your flower," he said as he offered her a beautiful red rose. While all of the other roses given had been in full bloom, this one was still a rosebud. He sighed. "I'm going to mess this up, I know it."

"Oh come on Hoops," Chad laughed, watching the two of them. "If _I_ can get through my rose speech, you can."

"You managed not to mess it up?" Troy asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course," Chad glanced at Kelsi. "Right?"

"Right," she confirmed. "He did a great job."

"Hear that Bolton? Not only did I not mess it up, but I did a great job," Chad said, obviously proud of himself. "So there's hope for you. Now get on with it already."

"Fine," Troy turned his attention back to Kelsi. "The red rose. It kind of goes hand in hand with the whole love thing, doesn't it? The classic rose color for love, for true love no less. Why a rosebud? Well, as I found out, the red rosebud has a slightly different meaning than a red rose that is in full bloom. Apparently a red rosebud is a sign of new love. Ryan wanted me to remind you of the first time he ever told you that he loved you. As far as his reason for loving you? Well...um..." Troy furrowed his brow as he seemed to struggle with finding the right words.

"Spit it out," Chad said finally. Taylor rolled her eyes as she reached over to smack her husband upside his head. "Hey!"

"Come on, let's get on the plane so Troy can finish his speech without interference," she suggested. "Grab Kelsi's bag for her too, would you?"

"Yes ma'am," Chad said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"I'll think about that and get back to you," she said, smiling at him. He rolled his eyes and reached over to grab Kelsi's bag. "You didn't have to hit me so hard," he was complaining to Taylor as they made their way on the plane.

"Like I was saying," Troy shook his head and then his tone changed as inspiration finally hit him. "You're a great person, Kelsi. You know you're like a sister to me and I love you like one. I also know you well enough to know that you probably won't believe this, but there's probably any number of guys that you could've fallen for that would've fallen all over themselves for you. You're a catch, Kelsi, even though you don't think of yourself as being one. Me and Ryan agree on that point, but I have to say I disagree with him on this next one. And the reason that I don't is because the two of you are so perfect for each other that I couldn't imagine either of you with anyone else. But in his opinion, sometimes he thinks that you deserve better than him."

"That's ridiculous," Kelsi interjected.

"I agree," Troy grinned at her. "But it's how he feels. He thinks it's pretty amazing how out of all the guys you could've ended up with that you'd pick him. He can't believe that you'd actually love him of all people and that just makes him love you more. Because you were willing, in his words, to settle for him even if you deserve better."

"That boy..." Kelsi shook her head. "Like I'd even want anyone else. I didn't have any other choice but to fall in love in him. How could I not?"

"That I don't know," he shrugged. "In any event, he wanted you to remember the first time he ever told you he loved you. According to him, he thought it was fitting for you to remember that in an airport."

"Well sure," she chuckled. "We were in an airport when it happened." He smiled at her and led the way to the plane. She trailed behind him and brought her newest rose up to her nose as she thought back to that day. They had become a couple the Christmas of their senior year, but had taken things very slowly. Both of them had avoided saying those three little words to the other, instead just focusing on taking their time and not rushing anything. The school year had ended and summer had started. Through it all their relationship had grown stronger, but the words had still gone unsaid. In fact, it wasn't until they were at the airport waiting to leave for Julliard that Ryan had finally found the courage to say them.

It had been just after five in the morning. The flight had been scheduled to leave just before six and they had already said goodbye to their families and friends and were sitting in the terminal. Vance had offered them the jet, but Ryan and Kelsi had wanted to go off to college in a more normal way. Kelsi had been a nervous wreck and had spent fifteen minutes playing with a napkin left over from their breakfast. Ryan had glanced over and noted that the poor napkin was now in tiny little pieces and had reached over to still her fidgeting hands.

"Kelsi?" His voice has been gentle. "I think the napkin is officially dead."

"What?" she had looked over at him, confused. He had gestured to the remains of her napkin and she had let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she had answered quickly. Too quickly.

"Kelsi."

"I can't do this," she had whispered. "This going off to college thing? Yeah, can't do it. What if we go and fail?" She had looked over at him and had been certain that he could see the panic in her eyes. "Actually, scratch that idea. You're going to do great! If either of us fails, it'll be me. And then you'll be all successful and I'll be your pathetic failure of a girlfriend." Ryan had opened his mouth to say something but she had plowed straight into her next concern. "And what about people? We have no people! All of our people are here! Well some of them are already away at school but you know what I mean." Her words had slowly started flowing faster and faster until they had all started coming out in a rush as she had continued to give in to her panic. "We are going to New York and we don't know anyone. Not one person! Well yeah, sure we know each other but that's not the point! You'll go off and make friends and be all Mr. Popular and I'll be all by myself, your pathetic failure of a girlfriend with no friends!"

"Kelsi," he had interjected, in the attempt of ending her nervous tirade but she had ignored him.

"That's how it's going to be," her voice had dropped to a whisper at that point. "You'll meet all these new and wonderful people and then...and then..." Just like that, the steam had flown out of her rant as a completely new and unwelcome thought had come rushing into her head. One she hadn't even wanted to voice.

"And then what?" He had reached over and gently brushed her hair from her face, a gesture he did often, in an attempt to calm her. She had gaped at him for a moment while she had tried to remember how to swallow.

"You'll...you'll get bored of me and leave me for some girl who isn't a failure and who is considerably more beautiful and interesting." He had only looked at her for a moment, completely stunned by the direction her tirade had taken them.

"What?" he had asked, rather stupidly. She had shaken her head and pulled away from him, getting up to walk to the window. She had heard him get up and a few seconds later had felt his arms wrap around her waist from behind. "Kelsi Nielsen, you have completely lost your mind," he had started, his voice heartbreakingly tender as he had pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Gee thanks." Her voice had broken on the words and she had been horrified to feel her eyes filling with tears.

"You must be completely crazy if you honestly believe that it is in any way possible for me to forget about you once we get to Julliard," he had finished. "That could never happen."

"You don't know that," she had been able to hear the tears in her voice as she said it. He had responded by squeezing her a little tighter.

"Yes I do, actually. And do you want to know why?"

"Why?" she had whispered the question. He had angled his head so his lips were right at her ear.

"Because I am completely and hopelessly in love with you," he had said softly.

"You're what?" She had been fairly shocked by the words and convinced that she had been hearing things.

"I'm in love with you." She had pulled away from him just enough that she could slowly turn around to face him.

"Are you serious?"

"Completely," he had traced the outline of the side of her face with his finger as he said it.

"Really?" Her voice had been so hopeful at the idea that he had smiled.

"Really," he had confirmed, leaning in to give her a soft kiss. "I wanted to tell you months ago but I just couldn't get the words to come out."

"Oh Ryan," she had sighed. "I love you too." He must have misinterpreted the nerves in her voice as her being uncertain about her feelings, because he had frowned slightly.

"Aw Kelsi, you don't have to say it back just because I said it. I don't want to push you." He had suddenly looked so uncharacteristically nervous that she had been able to keep from smiling. "I only want you to say that to me if you mean it. Not because you feel like you have to because I did."

"Okay," she had agreed with him. "Ryan?"

"Yes?" She had leaned in toward him so her mouth was closer to his ear.

"I love you," she had whispered.

"Are you serious?" At their sudden role reversal, Kelsi had laughed.

"Completely and really. I wanted to tell you before, but I was so scared you wouldn't feel the same way," she had confessed.

"Hence your Julliard freak out?"

"Well...that was most of my freak out," she had admitted. "I'm still completely terrified."

"Of what? Kelsi, you're probably going to end up becoming one of the great composers of our time. You're going to go to Julliard and completely blow everyone away. I just know it." She had been touched at the level of confidence he apparently had in her. "And you know what else? You don't have to be afraid because you have something a lot of people going don't have."

"What's that?" she had asked.

"A boyfriend who loves you and will be there for you no matter what happens," he had said sincerely.

"Oh Ryan," she had sighed and leaned in to give him a lingering kiss. When she pulled away, she had actually giggled. "Did you really just say hence?"

--------------------------------

In the years that Kelsi had dated Ryan, she had been on one of his father's private jets several times. But that never changed the fact that she still felt overwhelmed when she got onto one. The jets were all in the midsize range, capable of seating eight passengers. There were eight individual seats, divided into four pairs. Each pair of seats faced each other and had a little table that could be pulled out between them.

"Hey Kelsi!" A cheerful voice called out. She looked over and found a very pregnant Gabriella waiting for her. Chad and Taylor had taken one pair of seats and Troy was sitting across from Chad. Only Gabriella was still standing, no doubt having been waiting for Kelsi.

"Gabriella!" Kelsi cried happily.

"Happy birthday!" Gabriella reached over and attempted to give her a hug. She then laughed at herself and changed position to give Kelsi a sideways hug instead. "Somehow I keep forgetting about this," she said, gesturing to her stomach.

"Is it safe for you to be flying?" Kelsi asked, worried.

"Oh sure." Gabriella waved off her concerns. "I still have a couple of months to go."

"Are you sure about that?" Kelsi had her doubts.

"Absolutely," Gabriella laughed again. "No worries, Kelsi." She paused and looked around the plane at everyone else. "And the rest of you for that matter. I promise I'm not going to go into labor mid-flight."

"I still think someone else should've come instead," Troy shook his head, looking so much the part of a concerned father-to-be that Kelsi and Taylor both couldn't help smiling. "You could've seen Kelsi when we landed."

"But that's no fun!" Gabriella complained. "Besides no one else was able to fly out and I wanted to be the one to give Kelsi this rose. Stop worrying so much, Wildcat." Kelsi glanced over at Chad at the nickname. He looked over at her at the same time and rolled his eyes. They both loved Troy and Gabriella, but each of them found the Wildcat nickname – still being said after all these years – a little ridiculous. Kelsi smiled as she remembered all the times her and Chad had had a similar exchange over the course of their friendship.

"Hey I'm the husband, it's my job to worry," Troy smiled at his wife of two years. Gabriella had smiled back before turning her attention back to Kelsi.

"Before I forget, here you go," Gabriella said brightly, offering Kelsi a yellow rose along with a folded up piece of paper before easing down in the seat across from Troy. "The symbol of joy and friendship among other things. You should probably take the seat behind me," she added, frowning as she struggled to buckle the seat belt over her swollen belly.

"I know you're excited about the baby, but doesn't it get uncomfortable?" Kelsi asked, moving to take the seat that Gabriella had indicated and smiling when she saw the light peach rose and accompanying note that were both taped to the window.

"It can," Gabriella agreed. "But I figure once this baby gets here that it will have all been worth it."

"Until it starts keeping you up all night crying," Taylor offered.

"That's my wife for you," Chad laughed. "Always looking on the bright side." Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"I don't care about the sleepless night that I'm sure are coming," she protested.

"Remember that feeling when it's been a week and you still haven't slept," Taylor shot back, grinning.

"It'll still be worth it," Gabriella argued. "Just wait until you're pregnant. You'll feel the same way."

"Well actually..." Taylor started.

"Go on, you may as well tell them," Chad said. Before Taylor could say another word, Gabriella let out a squeal.

"Oh my gosh! Are you pregnant too?" she cried.

"Kind of," Taylor admitted sheepishly.

"Kind of?" Kelsi wrinkled her nose. "How can you be kind of pregnant? You either are or you aren't." She grinned. "Are you?"

"Yes," Taylor confirmed, a smile shooting across her face. Both Gabriella and Kelsi squealed this time and offered up their congratulations. "We just found out. I guess I'm not used to the idea just yet." They all spent the next several minutes gushing over this revelation as the jet eased out on the runway and slowly gathered speed until they had taken off. Or rather, the girls had all gushed while the two guys had sat there smiling and occasionally rolling their eyes good naturedly at the girls. Eventually the baby talk tapered off and Kelsi finally opened up the note Gabriella had given her to go along with her new yellow rose. She figured that that note was meant to be read before she moved onto the note that went along with the peach rose raped to the window.

_Hey baby,_

_I wish I could have been there to see your reactions to seeing everyone. It's been way too long, hasn't it? By now I'm guessing you all are either in the air or getting ready to take off. As far as the yellow rose you've just received, this one has to do with joy. You kind of talked about this with my parents already to an extent though they talked more about joy in general. This has more to do with laughter. I love that we can have so much fun together. We can be all serious and stuff too, but I love the lighter side of our relationship. Well I love all the sides of our relationship, but that's not the point. I love seeing that beautiful smile of yours and making you laugh...even if it's sometimes at my expense. Remember when I tried to show you how well I can take command of the stage?_

Kelsi grinned as she remembered exactly what he was talking about. It was back during rehearsals for the musical they had worked on their senior year. The same show that had earned them both scholarships at Julliard. The two of them had met in the gym before anyone else had gotten there and each had been busy working on different things. She had been putting the finishing touches on one of the songs and he had been figuring out some of the choreography. In the midst of all that, something had happened that Kelsi hadn't thought possible, especially considering how many times Ryan had performed on that very stage. He had just muttered something about how he had to find a way to teach some of the cast members a way to take better command of the stage while they performed when it happened. He had somehow miscalculated where the edge of the stage was and Kelsi had looked up in time to see him actually fall off the stage in the middle of some sort of move. She had gasped and had then hurried off the stage to get to him.

"Ryan!" she had called. "Are you okay?" He had been sitting on the floor of the auditorium and had looked as if he was in shock.

"I fell off the stage." He had sounded so incredible stunned that Kelsi had had to fight back a giggle.

"I noticed," she had said carefully. "Are you all right?"

"I fell off the stage," he had repeated, somehow sounding even more stunned than he had the first time. The giggle had escaped before Kelsi could stop it and he had slowly turned to look at her, eyes narrowed. "Are you...are you _laughing_ at me?"

"No?" She had bitten her lip in order to stop the next giggle. But then he had raised an eyebrow at her and that had been it. "I'm sorry," she had apologized between giggles. "You should've seen the look on your face!" She had managed to stop giggling long enough to flash an expression of surprise before dissolving into giggles again. "Is that," she had somehow managed, "is that how you take command of the stage? By falling off of it?"

"That's nice Kelsi," he had said, shaking his head. "Most people would be worried about anyone who had just fallen off a stage, but you...you being my girlfriend at that, you just laugh."

"I'm sorry," she had tried to compose herself with little success. "But you're an Evans! You've been dancing for years," she had paused as a fresh series of giggles overtook her, "on that stage even!" He had given her a look of disdain at that point, though his lips had twitched. "And you just..." She had repeated her imitation of his face right before he had fallen and had then kept laughing. He had been fighting the urge to join her laughing, but had finally let out a chuckle.

"At least I keep you entertained," he had said, still looking a little put out with her. "What if I had gotten seriously hurt?" That thought had eased her giggling briefly.

"Well it wouldn't have been funny if you had been _seriously_ hurt," she had decided.

"Are you sure?" he had asked, noting that she was still laughing.

"Yes," she had cleared her throat at that point, attempting to regain control.

"I'm touched," he had said dryly.

"Is anything hurt?" she had asked after a few moments.

"You mean aside from my dignity?" he had asked, sarcastically, in response. The question had been so unexpected that she had gone off into yet another fresh wave of giggles. He had gotten to his feet in a mock huff and she had reached over to grab his hat – it had gone flying when he fell. She had then stood up and pretended to dust it off before offering it to him.

"No really, are you okay?" she had asked again, finally starting to get a hold of herself.

"My wrist kind of hurts, but don't worry about it. Keep on having your little laugh fest," he had replied, making a show of cradling the wrist in question. She had allowed herself another giggle and then dutifully grabbed a hold of his hand and gently tugged it upward so she could place a soft kiss on his wrist.

"Better?"

"A little," he had admitted. The rest of their friends had started entering the auditorium at that point and they had both made their ways back on stage. Ryan had assembled the basketball team together for their number and started going over some things with them.

"Hey Ryan?" Kelsi had called from her spot at the piano.

"Yes?" he had looked over at her, his expression turning wary as he had no doubt seen the mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"Are you going to show them how well you take command of the stage?" she had asked innocently. His eyes had narrowed again and he had turned to their friends.

"Hold on for about five minutes," he had instructed. He had then turned towards Kelsi. "Run," he had advised. She had let out a small scream as he had lunged for her.

Bringing herself back to the present, Kelsi couldn't help giggling at the memory. Their friends had all been curious and amused by the chase that had followed, which had resulted in him eventually grabbing and tickling her until she had apologized. She focused her attention back to his letter, letting out another giggle at the next couple of lines:

_Stop laughing. It wasn't __**that**__ funny. _


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Finally able to update! I have been really surprised and flattered by all of the reviews and alerts for this! The response this story had gotten has been completely unexpected. Thank you all so much for all the support! Only ended up being one rose this chapter. Started writing this memory and kept going. I'm really curious to see the response this chapter gets. I've been trying to highlight all sorts of different sides/aspects of their relationship and for the most part it's been mushy, gushy and fluffy. This time we're heading straight into some angst and drama - because I figure in eight years as a couple everything can't be all sunshine and rainbows. Bad things happen to people, including Ryan and Kelsi. I think you learn the most about a relationship during the hard times and that's the reason for this chapter. ****Hard one to write and may be tough to read - I'm rating this chapter T due to the subject matter. Kind of unsettling with some violence, nothing graphic. This chapter is like a normal chapter with a oneshot inserted into it. You'll see what I mean by that. The sadness/drama of this rose may seen odd after the humor/fun of the last one. Personally I like it because it's such a direct contrast. Hopefully you will too and you won't hate me for steering this into angst territory for a rose. ****Two roses in the next chapter and then back to five. Let me know what you think!**

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Carefully tucking the yellow rose and note beside her, Kelsi reached over and gently peeled back the tape from the light peach rose and its note. Curious as to what this new message would be about, she leaned back in her seat and slowly opened it.

_Hi honey,_

_As I was trying to figure out what to do for all of the roses, I kept going back and forth on this one. On one hand I wasn't sure I wanted to bring up these memories. It was such a tough time for you and even though you've long since found the strength to move past it, I didn't know if I wanted to drag everything up again. On the other hand, it seemed kind of wrong for me to list all sorts of other reasons why I love you and leave this one out. A tough time, yes, but it ended up making you – and our relationship as a result – stronger. So much stronger. It's a huge reason why I love you and too important not to include. _

Kelsi paused as the memories came rushing back. Once again she knew exactly what he was talking about. Only this time the memories weren't nearly as pleasant. She turned back to the letter.

_I hope that as you get to the end of this letter that you will understand why I decided to include it. I wanted you to have this letter now, while you're surrounded by some of our best friends, because I didn't want you to be alone when you read it. Maybe this might even inspire you to tell them about it. Of course that is entirely up to you. As you read, I want you to remember how things have turned out. How you have become one of the strongest people I know after dealing with it. Remember the promise I made to you and remember how much I love you. And remember that you have never been alone. Remember._

Kelsi took a breath as she closed her eyes and forced the memories to come back in full focus. It would be a little painful, but she also knew that time had dulled the pain some. She took another breath and felt herself drift back to that horrible winter day back during their last year at Julliard. The memories were so real that it was almost like she had actually found a way to go back in time...

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It had snowed all day the day before and the Julliard campus looked like some sort of winter wonderland. There had been snow on the ground more often than not that winter. Kelsi usually liked the snow, but it had reached a point where she was getting somewhat desperate for the green grasses of spring that seemed to be a lifetime away. She sighed heavily as she left the building that housed the practice rooms and made the trek towards Ryan's apartment which happened to be a few short blocks away. It was sometime in the late afternoon and the two of them had made plans to meet at his place for dinner like they so often did. Usually Ryan would meet her at the building and they would walk to his apartment together, but that day Ryan had been stuck at work. It was kind of funny. Ryan Evans came from the wealthiest family that Kelsi had ever known and still had insisted on getting a normal job. He didn't want anything handed to him, especially when it came to his career. He wanted to make it or break it in New York on his own merit. It was something Kelsi both admired and loved about him. But all of that was beside the point at the moment. That particular day Ryan had hated his job because he hated the thought of Kelsi making the walk alone.

She had laughed off his concerns, reminding him that they had been going to Julliard for three and a half years and nothing horrible had ever happened. She assured him that she would be fine and he had reluctantly agreed just to meet her at his apartment. Though he had insisted that she keep her cell phone accessible at all times. She had rolled her eyes when he had made that request, but a part of her couldn't help but be touched that he was so concerned for her safety. She had set out of her walk and was so lost in her thoughts about him that she didn't see the other person until it was too late.

"Oh!" she gasped as she literally crashed right into them. She had blushed furiously as she looked up at the guy she had just plowed into. "I am so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going...well obviously." The guy had been fairly large, looking like he would fit in better on a football field than the Julliard campus, but he flashed her a smile. A smile that for some reason seemed creepy.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Pretty girls like you can crash into me whenever they want."

"Well..." she didn't know what to say to that so she trailed off awkwardly. "I'm still sorry."

"Want to make it up to me?" he asked suddenly. She had looked into his eyes and felt an odd sort of chill run through her body.

"Excuse me?"

"How about you let me buy you a cup of coffee. A drink to smooth things over, so to speak." There was that somewhat creepy smile again and Kelsi suddenly had an urge to get as far away from him as possible. She mentally chided herself at the thought. She was probably just being paranoid after remembering all of Ryan's concerns.

"I'm actually on my way somewhere, but thanks for the offer." She gave him a polite smile and started to head on her way again when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Oh come on, what's your rush?" he asked. There was that chill again.

"I'm meeting someone for dinner. My boyfriend actually," she informed him. "I don't want to keep him waiting."

"Then maybe we can get a cup of coffee another time then?"

"Um..." she looked past him, suddenly desperate for an escape. "I don't think so...I do have a boyfriend after all," she reminded him. "I'm sorry again for crashing into you." She gave him another polite smile and started walking again. Once again she felt a hand on her arm. The first time he had only put his hand on her arm to stop her. This time he actually grabbed at her arm and pulled her back towards him.

"You know I have to wonder about this boyfriend of yours," he said. "What kind of guy lets his girlfriend walk home alone?" Kelsi raised an eyebrow, suddenly annoyed.

"Not that it's any of your business, but my boyfriend usually walks me home. He just had to work and couldn't meet me, so I told him I'd just meet him at his place. He didn't like the idea but I didn't give him much choice. So if you would please let go of me so I could be on my way," she jerked her arm back and tried to ignore the anger that flashed in his eyes. The chill was back once more. She started walking again, this time walking a bit faster. The urge to get away from him came rushing back and she hurried her steps even more. She was passing one building and coming towards the next when it happened. Someone suddenly reached out and grabbed her, pushing her roughly against the wall of one of the buildings. She bit back a gulp as she realized it was him.

"Now see...I think me and you could have some fun together. You just have to give me some kind of chance," he said darkly. "What your boyfriend doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Please let me go." She had wanted to sound threatening, but the words came out in a whisper as she was engulfed by a wave of fear. He moved a hand up to grip her chin tightly.

"You know sweetheart, I was willing to make this fun for you too but now you're starting to annoy me," he said, sneering at her.

"Then let me go," she tried again. He laughed at that. In the shadows between the buildings it was a dark, evil sound.

"Oh don't worry, I'll let you go," he promised. "After I have my fun that is." He had then tightened his grip on her chin to the point of pain and forced his lips on hers. She clenched her lips together in response, furious and terrified at the same time. He moved his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as he dipped his head down to kiss her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced back the bile that rose up her throat. Thinking only of getting away from him, she quickly brought her leg up between both of his and jerked it upwards as hard as she could. The move served as enough of a distraction for her to shove at him as hard as she possible could and that gave her a tiny window where she was able to start running. She then screamed as loud as she could while she ran. Surely there were other people in the nearby buildings that could help her. She heard footsteps behind her and from the sounds of it; he was gaining on her quickly. Too quickly. She had just opened her mouth to scream again when he had lunged at her. She hit the ground hard and before she could even blink he had flipped her over on her back.

"You really shouldn't have done that," he growled at her. She hadn't even seen the slap coming and cried out instinctively at the pain in her cheek. She struggled against him furiously, even managing to scrape her nails across his cheek but it was no use. She soon found herself completely pinned underneath him, unable to move at all. He then managed to reach into his pocket and pull something out. She heard a click and then her eyes widened as she realized that it was a knife. "Look sweetheart, I tried to make this easy on you but you just wouldn't cooperate. I didn't want to have to use this." As she stared at the knife she couldn't help but wonder if it was actually possible to die from sheer horror alone. She whimpered as he slowly drug her shirt upward and then let out a short scream as he swiped the knife across her side, hard enough to leave a mark but not enough to do any serious damage. "Aw, did that hurt?" he asked in a mocking tone.

"L-let me g-go. P...P-Please," she whispered.

"What was that word? At the end there?" he asked, seeming greatly amused by her terror.

"P...Please," she repeated, tears streaming from her eyes now. He laughed and it occurred to Kelsi that apparently evil had a sound.

"Aw but sweetheart, I haven't had any fun yet," he said. He suddenly pressed his lips against hers again and she was convinced that she would literally be sick. The hand lowering the knife lowered away from her neck. She struggled as best she could but all it did was anger him further. He brought the knife to the side of her face and pulled away from her slightly. "You're determined to make this difficult aren't you?" he growled at her. He raised his hand that held the knife and she somehow managed to get an arm up to protect her face in time. The knife slid down her arm and she bit back a scream at the pain. "I didn't want to have to do this but you give me no choice." He eased into more of a sitting position, keeping her pinned down with his legs. He raised the knife back and paused as if waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Everything from then on seemed to happen in some sort of strange slow motion. She was convinced that he was about to kill her and images of Ryan came flooding into her head. She wished that she could tell him that she loved him one more time and prayed that he knew. Her attacker shifted the knife in his hand so the point was aimed right at her throat and pulled that arm back even further. He seemed to get some sort of joy in prolonging the moment. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the pain to hit her but it never came. Instead she felt a strange rush of air and the next thing she knew, her attacker had more or less flown off of her. Now it sounded as if a fight was in progress. She slowly opened her eyes. Her glasses had gone flying and she fumbled around in the snow desperately so she could better see what was going on. All the while, a sense of relief came over her as she figured out that someone had saved her. At least for the moment. She finally found her glasses, banged up from the fall, and shoved them on her face. She let out a gasp as she realized who her hero was. Ryan.

And she let out another gasp as Ryan took a hard hit that left him reeling. Kelsi felt her eyes widen in fear as her attacker reached for the knife that Kelsi imagined had gone flying when Ryan had tackled him. Thinking quickly, she hurriedly made a snow ball hoping that if she could aim it just right, that it would at least give Ryan an opportunity to make a move of some sort. Saying a quick prayer that her aim would be good, she reared back and fired. The snow ball, by some miracle, hit the assailant right in the face. Just as Kelsi had hoped, the snow ball had distracted him enough so that Ryan was able to throw a hard punch that knocked the other man to the ground. Ryan then brought his foot down on the assailant's arm, which caused him to drop the knife. As soon as the knife hit the ground, Ryan kicked at it to send it as far away as possible. It was only at that moment that Kelsi realized she could hear the sound of approaching sirens. She looked around and was stunned to notice that a couple of other people had gathered, probably drawn out by the sounds of the fight. Someone had obviously called the police. As soon as her assailant had hit the ground, a couple of the bystanders had hurried over and were currently holding him down.

"Ryan," she whispered his name and was somewhat surprised when he turned around. Their eyes locked for a moment and all of a sudden the reality of what had almost happened hit Kelsi like a ton of bricks. She somehow made it to her feet and stumbled over to a trash can that was conveniently nearby. She reached it just in time and leaned over it as her stomach proceeded to empty itself. She heard him approach but still jumped when she felt a hand on her back.

"Sorry," he whispered. "I...I'm going to reach around to hold your hair back, okay?" He seemed determined not to scare her again. She barely managed a nod before she threw up again; feeling his hands softly brush against her face as he gently pulled her hair back. Once Kelsi was convinced that she wouldn't be sick again, she eased back and slowly turned towards him. She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, so instead watched his hand pull something out of his coat pocket. A pack of gum. He silently pulled out a piece and offered it to her. She took it, grateful for anything to help get rid of the awful taste in her mouth. She could feel him studying her with his eyes and kept her own gaze lowered to the ground. She heard him mutter a string of curse words under his breath. She shifted her gaze to her shirt, noting that it was torn in multiple places from the struggle. It occurred to her that she didn't know what had happened to her coat, which she didn't have on for some reason. She also realized for the first time that she was shivering uncontrollably. She couldn't say if it was from the cold or from fear though she suspected it was both. Ryan, meanwhile, peeled off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. She finally risked glancing at his face while he busied himself with making sure the coat wouldn't fall off of her. His lip was bleeding and it looked like a nasty bruise was forming on his cheek. She bit her own lip, feeling bad that he had gotten hurt on account of her. She took a closer look at his face and noted that in addition to that, he also looked to be a study in controlled anger.

She softly cleared her throat. "Are...are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" he repeated. "Well let's see...I just found my girlfriend pinned to the snow by some sort of monster...with a knife no less...now a mess in front of me and you're seriously asking if I'm okay!? Of course not! I'm furious!"

"I..." she blinked as she was overcome by a fresh wave of tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry you got hurt... I'm sorry this happened..." Sniffing loudly, she yanked his coat off and shoved it at him. "Don't bother with me...this is all my fault," she said softly, starting to stumble away from him as best she could.

"What?" she heard him say, sounding somewhat bewildered. A second later she heard what sounded like a palm hitting a forehead followed by another curse word. "Oh no...Kelsi," he called as he rushed towards her, catching up to her easily. "Where are you going?" He moved in front of her, blocking her path.

"Away from you..." she sniffled. "I know you're mad at me..." He had started shaking his head the second she started speaking.

"Kelsi," he sighed, looking heartbroken. "I'm not mad at you."

"You're...you're not?" She felt herself sway slightly and he raised a hand to steady her.

"Of course not...why would I be mad at you?" he asked gently.

"You said you were mad..." He sighed again.

"Kelsi, I'm an idiot. I didn't realize how that sounded when I said it. Yes, I'm mad...but not at you. I just...I was running late after work and by the time I finally got home you weren't there so I decided to walk over here and see if I could maybe meet you along the way so we could walk back together. I turned a corner and heard you scream..." Ryan's face twisted in pain at the memory. "And then to see you on the ground with that...that monster over you with that knife...Kelsi, I thought I was going to lose you...I'm mad about what happened, I'm mad at him," Ryan sneered, jabbing his hand behind him to where her attacker still was. "But honey, I am in no way mad at you."

"You should be," she sniffed. "It was all my fault...you were right, I should've waited for you or not practiced today..." She continued listing off all the things she thought she had done wrong.

"Kelsi, no," he said softly, cutting her off. He carefully put his hand on her cheek, still not wanting to scare her. "It wasn't your fault." Kelsi sniffled again and looked past him. The police had arrived on the scene though she didn't know how soon it had happened after she first heard the sirens. As she watched, her attacker was handcuffed and hauled off the ground. A violent shudder went through her when she saw his face and Ryan stepped over to block her view. It was at that moment that another reality clicked into place.

"You saved me," she whispered.

"If only I had gotten here sooner," he sighed sadly. "I should've taken off work early and met you..." Kelsi shook her head.

"You saved me," she repeated. "If you hadn't of shown up..." Ryan held a hand up.

"I don't want to even think about that." Kelsi looked at him for a few moments. She knew she would have to talk to the police and she knew that she would have to go to the hospital to get checked out. Her arm probably needed stitches. She knew there were all these things that had to happen and she knew that they would happen very soon. But at the moment, there was only one thing she wanted to do. Only one thing that could give her the feeling of security that she so desperately craved at the moment. She flung her arms around his waist. He seemed surprised at first but then slowly put his arms around her. She tightened her hold on his in response, even though doing so sent a fresh wave of pain shooting through her arm. She didn't care about that. The instant she felt his arms come around her, she had the overwhelming sense that everything would be okay. It might take a while to happen – in fact she was sure about that – but sooner or later she would be okay. She let out a small sob as her tears started falling harder.

"Don't let go of me," she whispered. She pulled back just enough to look at his face, noting that by now tears were streaming down his face as well. Maybe they had been the entire time but she hadn't noticed. "Don't ever leave me...please." She brought her head back against his chest and tightened her grip even more, probably cutting off some of his air supply in the process. "Don't leave me." He rested his head on hers.

"Sssh, it's okay now...I'm here." He brought a hand up to lightly stroke her hair. "I won't leave you, baby, I promise..."

"Please Ryan…if I push you away, push back…Don't leave me."

"I won't," he whispered. "I'm not going anyway, honey…Ssh…you're safe now."

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Kelsi sniffled as she pulled herself out of the memory and back to the present. Ryan had kept his promise that day. He had stayed by her side with an arm around her while they talked to the police and he had gone in the ambulance with her to the hospital. He had stayed with her in the exam room and on the way back to her apartment where had had set up camp in a chair by her bed. That night she had woken up screaming after a horrific nightmare and he had been by her side instantly. Kelsi smiled slightly as she remembered how she had then asked him to sleep with her and then had blushed furiously as she needlessly explained that by sleep with her she meant actually sleeping as opposed to anything else. He had climbed in the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. After that she hadn't had any other nightmares – at least not that night, anyway. She wiped at a couple of stray tears that had fallen from her eyes as she returned to his letter.

_The light peach rose has all sorts of meanings tied to it. Appreciation, sympathy, gratitude, admiration, innocence…it's really hard for me to pick any one of those to go along with this memory because so many of them apply. You almost had your innocence stolen from you in the most awful of ways. Up until that point I thought I had a pretty good handle on the concept of fear, but I was wrong. I didn't even have a clue until I found you that day. I was so terrified I wouldn't get to you in time. I have never prayed so hard in my life, before or since, and if I had any doubts about God before they were erased that day. Because you lived. A day hasn't gone by since that I haven't started out every morning by saying a prayer of thanks that you're still alive. I am so grateful for you as a person, as a girlfriend, but above all of that I'm grateful for your life. You make the world so much better by being in it, Kelsi. _

_There were times when I worried about you. Times when you pushed everyone away and shut everyone out of your life. The first week was by far the worst, if you remember._

She did. All too well. After that first night and the following day, something had happened to Kelsi. She had gone down a path full of inner turmoil and depression. She had still blamed herself for what happened, even as everyone she knew who knew about it had tried to convince her that it wasn't. There was one particular point of her attack that had bothered her more than any other: someone other than her boyfriend had kissed her. Kelsi considered herself to be a very loyal person. She stuck by her friends and her family no matter what and even the thought of betraying any of them was more than she could bear to think of. Ignore the fact that the kisses had been were against her will - in her mind she had betrayed her boyfriend. And not only had she betrayed him, but she had been the reason for the fight he had gotten into with her attacker. If things hadn't of worked out the way they did, Ryan might have ended up being killed. The thought of that in combination with the sense of betrayal she felt had been more than she could handle. She had been so disgusted with herself that she had tried to push him away. Tried being the operative word. Ryan was loyal too. Loyal and stubborn. So when she had pushed, he had pushed back just like he had promised.

_Sometimes I worried if I might lose you after all. You became such a different person after your attack. Sometimes I think that seeing how hard you were struggling with what happened may have been worse than seeing the attack itself. I wanted so badly to help you, but you wouldn't let me. Not at first anyway. Things changed. I remember you had a nightmare about the attack where I had ended up being killed. At that point your fear of losing me had overcome your misplaced guilt over what had happened. At that point you decided to start fighting. You started opening up to me again and letting me help you. You started going to therapy and joined that support group. Little by little you started coming back to yourself. I cannot even begin to tell you how proud I am of you. Earlier I told you I admired you for your talent. Now I want you to know that I admire you for your strength. Several months after your attack, you started volunteering at the home for battered women and children. A couple of years later and you're volunteering still. Your experience has given you such a heart for these people and I can't even imagine how many times you have used your story as a means to help someone else. The experiences themselves may not be the same, but that doesn't really matter – what matters is that you honestly and sincerely care about these women and their stories. You listen to them and you comfort them. You do so much good over there, honey. _

_I know that even though you've dealt with and moved past what happened, that every once in a while you'll have a nightmare about it. I know you're also self conscious of the scars you have from that day, on your arm and your stomach. Sometimes I'll notice you absently rubbing at the scar on your arm and I know that you're thinking about it. I always know when you have a rough day volunteering because you'll come over and your eyes will be all red and puffy. Those days I figure you either told your story or heard one that really got to you. It happened last week actually. I was over at your apartment making dinner for us and you came home, eyes red and puffy, and took off your coat and set down your purse. You walked over, rubbing at your arm, and gave me a small smile before slipping your arms around me and asking me to "hold on for a while". It may sound odd because you're sad in those moments, but they always make me smile a little. Because it's such a contrast to those early days after your attack. Those days you pushed me away, now you have a bad day and use that as an excuse to pull me closer. Not only have you allowed what happened to you to make you stronger; you also used it as a way to make us stronger as well. Out of all of the reasons why I love you, this one might be one of the most important. _

_I love you forever,_

_Ryan_

_P.S – I really think you should tell everyone about what happened. I know you didn't want to at first because you felt ashamed and then later you didn't want the extra attention. Now I think you're scared to tell them because so much time has passed and you think they'll get mad at you for not saying anything. I don't think you have anything to worry about. In fact, I'd venture to say that it would only make them love you even more. But it's up to you – just think about it. Love you._

Everything he said in his P.S. was true. Aside from Sharpay and Zeke, none of their Wildcat friends knew about what happened. The only reason those two knew was because they had happened to come out to New York for a trip a few months after the attack. Sharpay had picked up on the fact that something had happened almost instantly. Kelsi had decided that it'd be easier to tell them, since Sharpay wouldn't have let it go until she knew. Though she had made them promise not to tell any of the others, which they hadn't.

"Kelsi?" Kelsi looked over to find Taylor kneeling down beside her looking a little concerned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kelsi assured her. "This one just got to me..." She studied her friend for a moment and it suddenly occurred to her that Ryan might be right. "Um...this was about something that happened. Something you all don't know about...I think it's time that I told you all about it."

"Sure Kelsi," Taylor nodded, looking intrigued now. She moved to the seat opposite from Kelsi while Chad and Gabriella each moved to the seats across from them. Troy chose to kneel down between Kelsi and Gabriella's seats. After everyone was settled and waiting, Kelsi let her gaze sweep over all of them before settling on Taylor.

"It happened a few years ago..."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts everyone! I've been really happy with the response to this story so keep it coming! Thanks also for sticking with me through all the angst of the last chapter, even though I know not everyone likes that kind of stuff. Two roses in this chapter - by the end of this chapter, Kelsi will have received 15 roses. So 10 roses to go! Now, as I said in the first chapter, this story is a sequel to my Christmas story The Secret of Christmas. This chapter features a guest appearance by someone we heard about in that story. Everything is explained so if you didn't read that story, don't worry. Of course you are certainly welcome to go and read it if you want to. :) A note about Sharpay - I like characters that grow so in my Christmas story she had been working on being a nicer person after the events of HSM2. You can assume that the events of all the movies still happened, but I decided to give her a new motivation for wanting Ryan to ask Kelsi to prom. It's a take on the situation that I don't think has been done yet (I could be wrong) and I'm curious for the reaction. Tried to keep her in character - she's a difficult character for me to write for some reason. I'm going to say that she's changed over the years, but am hoping that she still seems like Sharpay. I tried.**** This is definitely my least favorite chapter so far, but hope you all still like it. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated!**

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As it turned out, Ryan had been right. They had all been shocked at first and completely horrified by Kelsi's story. Gabriella had been the first one to start crying, with Taylor as a close second. Troy had put his hand on Kelsi's shoulder when she had to stop in the middle for a moment and kept it there as she continued. They were all completely absorbed in her story and all four of them had tears in their eyes by the end. The amount of love that came from each of them had overwhelmed Kelsi and caused a fresh flow of tears to start falling from her eyes. It didn't seem like she could ever make it through her story without crying. She had found herself rubbing at her scar again and ended up smiling as she remembered Ryan's letter. Chad had been curious about the scar, so she had rolled up her sleeve to show them. The scar was on the inside of her forearm and ran most of the way between her wrist and her elbow in a slightly jagged line. It had faded slightly over time, but not by much. Troy had moved his arm around her shoulders and given her a sideways hug after seeing it and the other three had gotten up to come over and do the same. It had been one of the most emotional moments of the day and Kelsi had decided that she would share her story with Jason and Martha the next time she saw them.

The rest of the flight had been fairly uneventful and by the time they landed, it was just after four o'clock in Albuquerque. Kelsi let out a happy sigh as she followed Gabriella off of the place. She loved living in New York, but a part of her heart would always belong to Albuquerque. She had come to think of both places as home. She walked with her friends out of the airport and then stopped when she noted that there were apparently two limousines waiting for them.

"Why are there two?" she asked, curiously.

"Well there's one for us..." Gabriella started, smiling.

"And one for you," Taylor finished. Kelsi's face fell slightly and Taylor laughed. "Don't worry Kelsi; this isn't the last you're seeing of all of us today."

"It's not?" Kelsi asked, hopeful. It had been too long since they had all seen each other and she wanted more time with them.

"Of course not, silly," Troy grinned. "You just have a couple of stops to make on your own. You'll see us all later," he promised. She nodded and took the time to hug each of them in turn before getting into the limousine that was waiting for her. As the chauffeur started pulling out of the airport, Kelsi settled back into her seat and wondered where in the world Ryan had arranged to take her now.

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"The hospital?" Kelsi wrinkled her nose as the chauffeur opened the door.

"Yes ma'am," the driver smiled kindly at her. It was the same man who had driven her and the other girls to a spa on the Christmas Eve of their senior year, as part of the series of activities that Ryan and the other guys had planned for them. He was the Evans' main chauffeur and over the years Kelsi had found herself being driven around by him several times. He was a very nice older gentleman and Kelsi liked him.

"Do you know why Ryan wanted you to bring me here?" she asked hopefully.

"Perhaps," he said, his eyes twinkling at her. "But where would the fun be if I ruined the surprise? Assuming I even know what it is." Kelsi laughed as she headed into the hospital, curious as to where she needed to go upon entering. A memory flashed in her head and she was hit by a streak of inspiration. She made her way to the elevator and took it to the children's ward. She looked around the waiting area and was surprised to hear someone call her name. She turned around and let out a small gasp.

One of the activities that Ryan had arranged for them all in the days before Christmas their senior year was to take them all to the children's ward. He had brought them all there so they could visit the children that were stuck in the hospital over the holiday. They had divided up into pairs and each pair had taken a different set of rooms so they would be able to get to every child. Kelsi had been with Ryan and had been touched by all of the children she had visited that day, but there was one little girl named Haley that had stood out among the others. She had been in the very last room they had gone too and had been in desperate need of a transplant. Even though the situation had truly been a matter of life and death, the girl had been cheerful. She had been about six years old and had been absolutely adorable. The thing that had separated her from all of the other children they visited that day was that the one thing she had wanted for Christmas was a piano. Her dream, like Kelsi's, had been to be a composer someday. Kelsi had been in tears after leaving the room and Ryan had been there to comfort her. He had also been certain that it was possible that she would receive the transplant she needed. Inspired by his level of faith, Kelsi had asked him to stop by a music store on the way back to his house for a movie night. She had purchased a few beginning piano books for the child in hopes that the girl would be able to actually use them someday. The call had come on Christmas Day: she had gotten her transplant and would be fine. Kelsi and Ryan had gone to visit her a few days later and the child had been absolutely thrilled to get the books. Both Ryan and Kelsi had kept in touch with the family. Now it had been eight years. The child had gone from a cute and sick six years old to a lovely, talented, and most importantly, healthy teenager. A teenager that was, at the moment, smiling at Kelsi.

"Haley?" Kelsi asked.

"Hey Kelsi!" the girl replied cheerfully. The two girls hugged and Kelsi couldn't help laughing.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Giving you your next rose, of course," Haley responded, presenting Kelsi with a red rose and laughing at the look of surprise on Kelsi's face.

"You're the reason why I'm here?"

"Yup. Ryan thought it seemed fitting and all. Seeing as this is where we first met," Haley responded. "It was great talking to him again! I love that guy."

"You and me both," Kelsi smiled at her.

"You're so lucky Kelsi. He's so sweet," Haley sighed dreamily even as she blushed. Kelsi couldn't help chuckling. Haley had developed a crush on Ryan as a child; a crush that had apparently not gone away.

"That he is," Kelsi agreed. "The sweetest guy I know," she added.

"Yeah..." Haley let out another sigh. "I wish I could find a guy like him. Not that there could be anyone as great as him."

"You'll find someone, Haley," Kelsi assured her.

"I hope so. Anyways, I'm supposed to tell you what that rose is for," Haley started. "He wanted it to be a red rose because this helped him realize that he was in love with you. Or come out of denial about it. I don't remember," she wrinkled her nose. "You get the idea. He loves you because you're always so willing to take the time to show other people kindness. You see the good in people and if you can help them out, you do. Like when you gave me those books and then the piano lessons you gave me when my parents were looking for a piano teacher. How you've kept in touch with me over the years even though you don't have to. He loves you for your goodness. How you are always so concerned with how everyone around you is feeling. It's why your music is so good, he thinks. Because you care about people and that's what you write about." Haley smiled sheepishly at her. "I'm probably messing this up."

"No, you're doing fine," Kelsi said gently. "Thank you."

"Oh yeah!" Haley exclaimed, bringing a hand up to her forehead. "I forgot to tell you happy birthday, so...happy birthday!" Kelsi chuckled.

"Thanks Haley."

"Kelsi?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?" Haley wanted to know.

"Sure."

"You and Ryan have been dating since you met me, right?"

"Right."

"That's a long time! Why aren't you guys married yet?" Haley asked. "I mean, you're like perfect for each other!" Kelsi was momentarily speechless as she pondered the question.

"Well...in all honesty...the reason we aren't married yet is because he hasn't asked me," she said, finally.

"Ugh." Haley rolled her eyes. "What is he waiting for?"

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Kelsi was chuckling to herself as she left the hospital, rose in hand, and made it back to the limousine. She had chatted with Haley for a few more minutes and Haley had spent the majority of the time going on about how great she thought Ryan was. The girl definitely had a major crush on him. Still smiling, Kelsi pulled out her cell phone to call him.

"Hey valentine," he answered the phone cheerfully, as he usually did when she called.

"Valentine? I thought I was birthday girl," she teased him.

"You're both of them," was his response.

"I have a secret for you," she informed him.

"A secret, huh? What is it?"

"Haley has a crush on you. Still," she replied.

"That's not exactly a secret, Kelsi," he said. "Can't say I blame her though. I mean, I am pretty amazing," he joked. Kelsi giggled.

"She definitely seems to think so. We spent some time gushing over how wonderful we think you are," she admitted.

"You gushed?" He sounded amused.

"Well...maybe a little. How could I not? On account of you being so amazing and all."

"True."

"Now..."

"Now what?"

"Seeing as how it's my birthday, I have a request I'd like to make of you." She paused as she rethought her words. "Actually it's more of a demand."

"And what would that demand be?"

"I don't know what else you have planned for today, so maybe this is already a part of it," she began. "If so, then great. But if not, here it is. I don't care how you do it. I don't care if it's by plane, train or car. By bus or boat. On foot or on a horse. But somehow I want you to get yourself to Albuquerque by the end of the day. I need to see you. I need to hold you and kiss you and thank you properly for everything you've done today. Especially after these last few flowers." She paused. "And by the way...I told them."

"Really?" His voice was soft, but she heard the pride in it all the same.

"Yeah. You were right."

"I knew I would be." It was his turn to pause. "Are you okay?"

"I don't like telling that story...but after all of their reactions...yeah I'm okay. Aside from a terrible case of missing you that is."

"Aw baby," he murmured. "I miss you too."

"Well then you know what you have to do." She let her eyes close, somehow feeling closer to him by doing so. "Get your butt to Albuquerque."

"How do you know I'm not already in Albuquerque?" The question was unexpected and made her heart start beating faster in response.

"Are you?"

"I didn't say that," he chuckled. "I was just wondering how you know I'm not."

"I don't...are you?" She tried again.

"Let's just say I'm closer to Albuquerque than I am to New York. Much closer."

"Good! That makes your job of getting here that much easier." She felt the limousine pull to a stop and then heard the driver get out of the car. "Oh! I think we just arrived somewhere." A second later her door opened and she got out of the limo and looked around, surprised to notice that they were currently at the high school. "East High?"

"Of course. How could I leave that out? That's where everything began."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"Back to the beginning," she could hear a smile in his voice again. "On stage. There might even be someone waiting for you. And no, it's not me. So I should let you get going."

"Oh. Right." She couldn't help sighing.

"Don't worry Kelsi, you'll hear from me again. And you might even see me later too."

"I better," she muttered.

"And hey...I'm proud of you. For telling them," he said tenderly. "I love you baby."

"I love you too," she said softly. "You so better be here by the end of the day."

------------------------------------------

The East High auditorium. The place where so many of her memories from high school happened. Kelsi made her way down one of the aisles and up onto the stage. It was a school day and Kelsi had a feeling that she knew exactly who would be waiting for her. Seeing as how she worked at the school these days.

"There you are!" a familiar voice said. Kelsi grinned as she saw that she was right.

"I knew it was going to be you!" Kelsi laughed. "It couldn't be a visit back to the East High auditorium without seeing at least one Evans. Well you're a Baylor now, but even so."

"Always an Evans," Sharpay shot her a grin. "It's so good to see you!" The blonde girl rushed over to give her a hug. If anyone had told Kelsi that she would someday be friends with Sharpay while they were both still in high school, Kelsi would've thought they were insane. They two of them had definitely had their share of tense moments and Kelsi used to be pretty terrified of her. Sharpay had changed over the years though, starting with their senior year of high school. And aside from that, as Kelsi's relationship with Ryan had blossomed she had become closer to his family as well. These days she actually thought of Sharpay as a sister.

"How's the drama club doing?" Kelsi asked. Sharpay had worked with Ms. Darbus at East High since graduating high school. Now Ms. Darbus was officially retired and Sharpay had taken over as head of the drama department.

"It's doing pretty good. There are a few really talented kids in this bunch and I'm looking forward to the musical. Of course," Sharpay grinned, "the musical would be better if we had our own personal composer to do the music for us. Or a super talented up and coming choreographer. You and Ryan so need to help me out with a show at some point." Kelsi laughed. Sharpay had brought up this idea in the past, but it never seemed to work out.

"Is that even allowed?" she asked.

"I'm the head of the department," Sharpay raised a shoulder. "And besides, you and Ryan are alumni of both East High and Julliard. They'd love to have you both help out. Just picture it. It'll kind of be like senior year, except instead of Ms. Darbus it would be me directing. It'd be fabulous!"

"It does sound like fun…" Kelsi said slowly, pondering the idea.

"Yeah! And all of the kids involved in the show would have had the honor…no, the privilege, of working with the famous team of Evans and Nielsen." Sharpay smirked.

"Evans and Nielsen?" Kelsi was amused.

"Uh-huh. That'll be what they'll call you guys once you take over Broadway," Sharpay smirked. "Sounds good doesn't it?"

"Maybe a little." Sharpay gave her a look. "Okay, a lot," Kelsi corrected.

"Of course…if my brother would get off his butt and propose already, you guys could be Evans and Evans." Kelsi shook her head.

"You are the second person who has said that today. About Ryan proposing that is, not the Evans and Evans part," Kelsi informed her.

"Well it's about time he did," Sharpay nodded. "All of the other couples in our group are already married and there you guys are, dragging your feet." She raised a perfect eyebrow. "Maybe I need to give my brother a nudge in the right direction."

"You mean like how you did for prom?" Kelsi grinned at her. Sharpay laughed at the memory. Ryan and Kelsi had been dating for a few months by the time prom came around their senior year, but Ryan had been nervous about asking Kelsi for some reason. "I still can't believe he was so nervous about asking! Especially since he went through all that trouble at Christmas."

"That's my brother for you. I can't even tell you how many times he went to ask you and chickened out." Sharpay let out a sigh. "Kind of endearing, actually. He could form an elaborate scheme that made you fall for him, but when it comes to a direct question he gets nervous."

"I wonder why that is," Kelsi said thoughtfully.

"Because you can always say no," Sharpay answered.

"He asked me to be his girlfriend that Christmas though," Kelsi pointed out.

"Not directly," Sharpay countered. "It was more of a suggestion. You could've decided not to be his girlfriend, but it wouldn't have been a direct no. He would've seen that as motivation to keep trying to win your heart. If he had asked directly, rather, and you had said no, he would've seen that as reason to give up. I know it's kind of confusing, but that's Ryan logic for you." Sharpay tilted her head. "That's probably why he hasn't asked you to marry him yet." A mischievous look flashed in her eyes. "All the more reason for me to get involved."

"I still can't get over the look on your face when I asked for your help with prom," Kelsi laughed.

"That was pretty surprising," Sharpay agreed. "There I was, doing my best to be a nice person and a good friend, and there you were asking me to scheme."

"It wasn't a scheme," Kelsi argued. "Exactly..."

"You asked me to tell Ryan to ask you to prom," Sharpay laughed. "And make him think that I was getting him to because I wanted that song you wrote for Troy and Gabriella." Kelsi winced.

"Well you'd done it before..." Sharpay laughed harder.

"Before I was friends with them," Sharpay shook her head. "Or you for that matter. Ryan totally didn't buy it...well maybe for the first few seconds, but he figured something was up. He thought I was just tired of hearing him decide how he should ask you. Which I was...but he never imagined that it was your idea!"

"What I want to know...if he knew you weren't serious, why'd he finally ask?"

"Because he knew that if I was fed up with the situation and he didn't ask soon that I would've asked you for him. And that I would've been sure to make it as embarrassing for him as possible." Kelsi laughed. "So he decided just to do it. Though..."

"Though what?"

"Technically speaking, he never actually asked you to prom did he? Not directly."

"Hey you're right," Kelsi shook her head. "That was another suggestion."

"My brother," Sharpay rolled her eyes playfully. "Hey Kelsi...it's been so long since you've been here," she began, casually, "maybe you should take a seat at the old piano and play something."

"Um...okay," Kelsi said, giving her an odd look. She moved to the piano that was sitting on the side of the stage and gasped. She should have expected it but talking with Sharpay had taken her mind off of why she had been sent there in the first place. Lying on the piano keys was yet another rose. Kelsi smirked as she sat down; noting the color of this particular rose.

"Appropriate isn't it?" Sharpay asked, moving to join her on the piano bench. "Me and Ryan had a debate about the color of this rose and both ended up agreeing that if I was giving it to you, it could only be one color."

"Bright pink."

"Of course!" Sharpay grinned. She reached over and picked up the rose. "The rose...used by lovers for centuries. A token of affection, a declaration of love," she started, dramatically. "A sign of appreciation. It's probably the most famous and fabulous of all flowers."

"Flowers can be fabulous?" Kelsi interjected.

"Don't interrupt."

"Sorry."

"The rose...what better way to get a statement across using flowers? We Evans have such good taste," Sharpay decided. Kelsi bit back a smile. "You've gotten a lot of roses already. Each rose has carried with it a different meaning. A different reason why my brother loves you. This one has to do with the stage...this stage and every other stage the two of you will take over in the years to come. Our senior year you guys came together to help make our spring musical as wonderful as it was. Your music...his choreography...it was incredible. You work so well together. He draws inspiration for his steps from your music and you come up with the perfect music to highlight his choreography. You both always seem to instinctively know the direction the other wants to take in a particular piece and you work together to make it happen. I hope everyone who was in that show appreciates the fact that we got to work with such a naturally talented team," Sharpay paused, her voice softer when she began speaking again. "I know I do. I know you think I'm being my normal dramatic self when I talk about the idea of Evans and Nielsen, but I really do believe it'll happen. You both have the talent and the determination needed to make it. Separately you guys would still do well. You'd still end up being successful if you weren't a team, I think. But together...wow. You both drive the other one to be better at their craft. You both know how to highlight the other one's abilities. What you can accomplish on that stage together is so much more than what you could accomplish separately. He absolutely loves that. How you guys compliment each other both in your romantic relationship and as a team. It's another reason why the two of you are so perfect together." Sharpay smiled as she handed Kelsi the rose. "And it's another reason why my brother loves you so much."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I still can't believe the response this story has gotten. Right now I have 60 reviews for five chapters! That's awesome! Thanks so much for those everyone and thanks to everyone whose put this story on alert or favorited it or put me on author alert. I also want to give a specific thank you to DC World and krfan who gave me the inspiration for all of the roses in this chapter. This chapter marks the first time I have ever written for a certain character that someone was hoping would show up...you'll see who it is. I thought writing Sharpay was hard; she's nothing compared to this one! Actually pretty much everyone but Kelsi was hard to write in this chapter. Again, I tried to keep everyone in character as much as I could. Three roses here and a few very special ones coming up. At the end of the chapter you'll notice Ryan and Kelsi being compared to another famous couple and I really think it works. Hoping that the person I have explaining it did a good job so you see where I'm coming from. I'm actually debating doing a story (Ryelsi, most likely) at some point based on a movie that this couple did together. I have so many Ryelsi stories I want to write and am hoping to continue a couple I've had on hold (Little Glimpses and Then You Stand, specifically - if you haven't already, go check those out and tell me what you think). Even thinking about a sequel for this one. But for now...hope you all like this chapter! Still not one of my favorites so far but I'm pretty happy with it. Reviews are, as always, greatly appreciated!**

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"How long did it take Ryan to plan all of this?" Kelsi asked.

"A while," Sharpay grinned. "He had to make sure everyone could get their schedules all lined up so they could help out. Of course at the time he thought he'd be with you throughout the day, but that changed when Daddy needed his help."

"Yeah, why did your dad have to pick today of all days for Ryan to help him with whatever it is he's helping him with?" Kelsi asked.

"It wasn't intentional," Sharpay answered. "It's just kind of how it ended up working out. Gotta love the business world, right?"

"What exactly is Ryan doing anyway?" Kelsi mused. "I don't think he ever told me."

"It has to do with him being a stockholder in the company," Sharpay said, waving her hand. "You know all of us are stockholders now...my parents, myself, Ryan and Zeke." She grinned again. "And you will be once you join the family. Officially that is. Anyway, every now and then they need the stockholders to get involved."

"If that's the case..." Kelsi started, eyeing the taller girl suspiciously. "Why'd your dad only need Ryan? What about you?"

"I have my job here at the school. It's hard for me to get away whenever I need it...life as an educator and all that. And besides, I hardly ever get involved with anything with the company anyway. Ryan knows more about it all than I do and I trust everyone's judgment. I pretty much only head out if they need a signature of some sort," Sharpay said smoothly.

"Hmm..." Kelsi studied her. "I guess that makes sense."

"But back to your original question," Sharpay began. "You asked about how long Ryan had been planning this and I said something about him having to check with everyone's schedules...well there was one person Ryan was hoping he could get to come out but wasn't sure if he could. He had a lot of planning to do, so he left me in charge of trying to get this particular person to come out. Everything kind of came together at the last minute and this will be a surprise to you both since I haven't had a chance to tell him. This person practically jumped at the chance to fly out..."

"Who is it?" Kelsi asked, curious.

"Pull out your cell phone," Sharpay advised. Kelsi blinked.

"What?"

"Your cell phone," Sharpay repeated. Kelsi gave her an odd look but slowly pulled it out of her pocket where she had put it.

"What's the big deal about my cell phone?" Kelsi watched, perplexed, as Sharpay pulled out her own cell phone and dialed a number. A few seconds later Kelsi's own phone rang. "Sharpay, what in the world..."

"Please tell me that that is not the sound of a cell phone ringing in the theater that I hear," a voice said from behind them. Kelsi felt her eyes widen as she shot a glance at Sharpay, who was smiling. "Surely," the familiar voice continued, "that is one of the most awful and heinous sounds I have ever had the displeasure of hearing. Why, this is a chapel of the arts and should be regarded as such." Kelsi hopped off the piano bench and spun around.

"Ms. Darbus!" she exclaimed, stepping forward to hug her.

"Happy birthday Ms. Nielsen," the older woman said in response, pulling back and holding Kelsi at arm's length to study her. "My goodness...where is that shy young composer I used to know? You seem so much more comfortable with who you are as a person."

"How can you tell that just by looking at me?" Kelsi asked, intrigued.

"You've maintained your eye contact with me. You never used to do that – with me or anyone else. You would always look away, almost as if you were afraid of what people might see if they look too long," Ms. Darbus said, smiling at her. "I suspect being in love might have something to do with that," she added, her eyes twinkling.

"Well maybe a little," Kelsi laughed softly.

"You know, the first time I ever saw you and Mr. Evans together I had a feeling that you would end up together someday," Ms. Darbus said thoughtfully. "The two of you had this unique kind of chemistry, a kind of chemistry that many actors the world over have tried to duplicate on stage with varying levels of success. You know, talent can be honed and abilities can be strengthened, but chemistry...you either have it or you don't. And you and he always had it."

"Ain't that the truth," Sharpay spoke up as she got up from the piano bench.

"Now Ms. Nielsen, I believe I have something for you," Ms. Darbus said. Once again Kelsi found herself presented with a flower that she hadn't even noticed the person in question was holding. Kelsi shifted her gaze to the flower and her expression turned quizzical. This one was a beautiful light pink flower, but not the traditional rose that Kelsi had come to expect. "Simplicity...that is what this rose represents." At Kelsi's look, Ms. Darbus smiled. "Yes, I know this looks different than what you might think of when you think of a rose. This is a wild rose and the meaning of the wild rose is simplicity. A single rose of any type would have the same meaning as it were, but any other rose wouldn't be as fitting. Because you see, simplicity and the beauty of the wild rose go hand in hand with each other." Ms. Darbus swept her gaze slowly around the stage. ""In a lot of ways the traditional rose is a lot like the main characters in a play. They get all of the glory and all of the fame. They make a statement and it's usually a powerful one. No other flower has as much stage presence, so to speak." She paused. "I don't know if you've ever had rose bushes, but they can be very hard to maintain. Roses can require a lot of effort and can be almost fragile in ways. The wild rose is much more basic than the more intricate and popular counterpart. They don't need as much attention and are a bit more durable. They are considerably more simple and some may think them inferior to the traditional rose. But you see, Ms. Nielsen, the beauty of the wild rose is in its simplicity."

Sharpay took a couple of steps so that she was next to Ms. Darbus and facing Kelsi. "Me and my brother were born into a life of privilege. Both of our parents come from wealthy families and over the years they have managed to increase their fortune. We never had to struggle for anything. We've always lived in beautiful houses with staff to wait on us. We've always belonged to the best country clubs and we've always met all of the right people. It's the kind of life that most people wish they could have," Sharpay began. "Sometimes growing up it seemed like we were part of another world. A world a lot of people rarely get to even see. The problem with this kind of lifestyle is that a lot of times people in it start worrying more about appearances than people. When it's easy to get what you want, you start to want it all. I know I did. My background was never enough for me growing up. I always wanted more. More toys, more accessories, more everything. I wanted to be famous and have everyone adore me and look up to me. I wanted it all and a lot of times walked over people to get it." Sharpay smiled sadly. "That happens a lot in this world. Bigger is always better and extravagance is admired."

"It may seem odd to you to be getting a rose about simplicity from the two of us," Ms. Darbus cut in. "I don't believe that word applies to either one of us."

"But it does apply to you," Sharpay continued. "You're kind of like a breath of fresh air that way. Ryan gets annoyed with all the extravagance sometimes. It bothers him when people care more about objects than each other. When people measure the quality of a gift by how much it cost." She shook her head. "You don't do that. You appreciate all the simple things in life. Take this whole thing with the roses…at the end of the day all you're physically getting is twenty five roses and a collection of notes and speeches. Not much if you think about it in terms of how much it cost," Sharpay smiled. "It's a very simple kind of gift and a lot of girls, particularly in our world, would turn up their noses at the idea. After all, roses don't glitter and shine like diamonds do. Ryan has the money. He could easily have decided to give you diamonds. You know that. But he went with paper and flowers. And he did that knowing that all of the papers and speeches and roses would mean more to you than all of the diamonds he could afford. You appreciate the simple things in life, Kelsi. You'd love him even if he didn't have a penny to his name. You don't need objects and trinkets to be happy. You see the beauty in the simple. It's a gift more people need and it's another reason why Ryan loves you so much."

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Kelsi studied the wild rose as headed back out to the limousine. She didn't think she had ever seen one before and she was struck by how different it looked from the more traditional roses. She looked back at the high school and smiled. There had been a lot of great memories in this place, particularly during her last year there. Getting to spend some time with Sharpay and Ms. Darbus had been wonderful and she was curious to find out where she was headed now.

"I believe that this is for you," the driver piped up as he opened the door of the limousine for her. Kelsi looked over at him and saw that he was holding a white rose and a note.

"Have you had that the entire time?" she asked, surprised.

"No, miss. Someone stopped by and dropped it off while you were in the high school," he answered. Kelsi's ears perked up.

"Someone? Did it happen to be a blond someone?" she asked. The driver smiled at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'm not at liberty to say," he answered. She let out a mock sigh.

"You've been working for Ryan for far too long," she grinned. "Can you give me a hint at least?"

"It's someone you know," he said honestly.

"Was it a guy or a girl?" she pressed.

"A guy," he replied. "Though not necessarily the guy you might think."

"Hmm," she thought that over as she got into the limo. "Can you at least tell me where we're going now?"

"To a place where, according to Master Ryan, you had a night to remember," he smiled at her as he shut her door.

"A night to remember," she mumbled to herself. It hit her a few seconds later that that was the name of one of the songs she had written for their senior year musical. It was for the prom number which led Kelsi to think that maybe they were headed to the hotel where their own prom had been held. Kelsi shook her head, smiling, as she opened her latest note.

_Hey birthday girl,_

_So this is your seventeenth rose if I'm not mistaken. It's another white one as you can plainly see. There's another meaning for the white rose I don't believe I've used yet. That meaning is loyalty. You are, without question, the most loyal person I have ever met. You stick by your friends and your family no matter what. You stand by the people you care about, even if they're wrong. You might not agree with them all the time, but you refuse to turn your back on them. It's just not the kind of person you are. You're not just loyal, you're fiercely loyal. I remember after your attack the thing that bothered you the most out of everything was the thought that you had betrayed me even though you hadn't. Your sense of loyalty is that strong. I've known a few guys who always seemed to worry about whether their girlfriends were being faithful and I realized that I have never once worried about that. I've never had to because I know the thought of cheating or whatever has never even crossed your mind. I know that when you tell me that you love me that there's no one else who can even get your attention. I love that about you, Kelsi. I also love how your loyalty doesn't just apply to people, but to your beliefs as well. You know what you believe in. You know where you stand and there's nothing anyone can do to sway your opinion. It's an admirable quality and one of my favorite things about you._

_Love you,_

_Ryan _

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Just as she had predicted, they soon pulled up to the hotel that their senior prom had been held at. She smiled as she got out of the limousine and headed inside. She assumed she was supposed to head to the room the dance had been held in and as she walked there, memories of the prom flooded her mind. She could still remember exactly how the room had looked and how wonderful the night had been. A night to remember, indeed. She was so caught up in her memories that she didn't see the person waiting for her at first. She heard someone clear their throat and looked up.

"Zeke!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hey Kelsi," he smiled as he gave her a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Are you part of Ryan's plan too?"

"Of course. Your flower, miss," he said grandly, presenting her with a beautiful red rose.

"Miss?" she grinned at him. "A little formal, don't ya think?"

"Yeah well, I'm married to Sharpay," he chuckled sheepishly. "I guess some of the drama has rubbed off on me."

"So tell me...how's life as Albuquerque's number one baker?" Kelsi asked. Since graduating high school, Zeke had become a professional baker like he had always dreamed he'd be. He had opened up his own bakery in the past year and was quickly making a name for himself.

"Life's pretty good," he smiled. "I'm married to the girl of my dreams and I have the career I've always wanted. Not to mention the fact that me and Sharpay have recently decided to try and start a family." Kelsi's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious? I thought you guys wanted to wait to have kids...if you even had any," she said, surprised.

"I don't know...we went over to Jason and Martha's to have dinner a few months ago and got to see them with their kids...talking to Troy and Gabriella about how excited they are to become parents...I don't know, it just sparked something in me and Sharpay. I can't wait until it happens," he told her. Kelsi shook her head.

"When did this happen?" she asked. "When did all my friends become adults?" Zeke laughed.

"Last I heard, you become an adult once you turned eighteen," he joked. "And if I'm not mistaken, you're turning twenty-five today. Which brings me to this flower I hold in my hands," he paused. "Nice transition, huh?" he asked, winking at her.

"Oh yes, very nice," she agreed, smiling at him.

"The last time we were in this room it was for prom. You spent most of the evening dancing with Ryan...something you've done a lot since you've known him. As you are aware, dancing is kind of his life. It's his passion, his calling. Just like how music is yours."

"And how baking is yours," she softly interjected. He smiled.

"Yeah...you know, not everyone is born with a passion like we all were. Everyone has things they're good at and things they like, but it's not exactly a passion. Maybe it's not so much that they don't have one as much as it is that they don't know what it is. So many people go through their lives and never find that one thing that makes them come alive," he paused. "Then there are people like us who, ever since we can remember, have known exactly what we wanted to do with our lives and nothing else would ever be good enough. We don't want to settle for anything else. Now Ryan...seeing as how dancing is his passion, he could never in a million years be with someone he couldn't dance with."

"I'm not a dancer, Zeke," she pointed out. "I mean yeah...if he teaches me something I can figure it out and all but..."

"Right. You may not be as good of a dancer as he is but that's not the point. He just loves the way you two dance together. The way you feel in his arms. The way you trust his judgment and follow his lead without questioning him," he grinned, "even if you have no idea what you're doing. He loves the way you listen to him if he instructs you and how you get annoyed with yourself when you mess up. He loves how he can usually persuade you into getting up from whatever it is you're doing to take a waltz around the living room with him. He loves how you get so caught up with the music and him that you like forget everything else. You're kind of like the Ginger Rogers to his Fred Astaire." At Kelsi's look, he laughed. "I'm not talking in terms of dancing ability. I'm talking about how she related to him."

"What do you mean?" Kelsi was intrigued. This was definitely a new one.

"I've seen their movies a lot...married to Sharpay and all," he grinned. "They were both incredible dancers, though he was probably the better of the two. But you watch them and it's...man, they were insane. She always followed his lead so perfectly. She responded to him so well...kind of how you respond to Ryan when you dance. The steps may not be anywhere near as complicated, but the chemistry is exactly the same. Ryan could never have the same kind of chemistry with anyone else. It's like..." Zeke searched for the right words, "if dancing is his passion, then you're his heart. Combine the two and...wow. Ryan could dance with the best dancers in the world but it'd be nothing like dancing with you. No other dancer has the ability to make him feel the way you do. Fred apparently had a lot of other dance partners, but there was only one Ginger. Ryan's danced with a lot of people, but there's only one Kelsi. He wouldn't have it any other way."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I say it every chapter, but thanks for all the reviews and alerts! I really appreciate those. :) I try to respond to reviews and now I want to do a special thank you for all of the anonymous readers since I can't respond directly. HSM fans are great! Also thank you to autumnamberleaves who gave me the idea for one of the roses in this chapter, which in turn gave me an idea for the other one. I hope the second note makes sense - it does to me, but I have my doubts. Only 5 roses left! I have three of them planned out, but suggestions are welcome for the other two if anyone has any. This story is coming to a close, but I'm pretty positive that there will be a would actually make this more of a series if you take the Christmas story into account. So we'll see. A little note for this chapter: I know we're not given much information about Derby and Vance, so for the purpose of this chapter, Derby's maiden name was Johnson. I wrote this assuming that Lucas Grabeel's eyes are, in fact, blue like I think they are. Anyone know for certain?You'll notice that this chapter features another story within a story. Though in this case, there's technically two stories within the main story. Both of them are about the same event. ****L****ong chapter this time. Not the longest chapter so far, but close. Hope you all like it. ****Let me know what you think! **

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Back in the limousine Kelsi found herself lost in thought as she was taken to her next stop for the day. She had received eighteen roses so far and only had a few left. Every time she got a new rose it seemed like she missed Ryan a little more. She couldn't even begin to imagine what the last roses might be for and she had no idea where she was being taken. Talking with Zeke had been wonderful and he had assured her that she would be seeing him later, along with everyone else. Kelsi had tried to get him to tell her whether or not Ryan was in town, but he had just laughed and told her not to waste her time because his lips were sealed. He had then walked her back out to the limousine and informed her that she had to stay on schedule. Whatever that meant. The car came to a stop before she could think about it any further and then the door was opened, she found herself looking at the house she had grown up in.

"Oh!" she exclaimed happily. She should've assumed that Ryan would have her stop here, but it hadn't even crossed her mind. She thanked the driver and hurried up to the front door she had walked through so many times before. The door opened just as she reached it.

"You're finally here!" her mother, Karen, greeted her with a smile and a hug. "Happy birthday sweetheart!" As soon as her mom released her, Kelsi found herself being hugged again – this time by her father.

"Happy birthday," he echoed. "We've missed you around here!" They all hadn't seen each other for a while and Kelsi was thrilled to be able to catch up with them in person. They spent the next several minutes talking about how everyone was doing and then Kelsi's mom darted into the kitchen and returned with a beautiful lavender rose and a folded up piece of paper.

"Kelsi, I know you realize this but that is one special guy you're dating. He put so much thought and effort into this project for you," Karen smiled at her daughter. "It's really very sweet."

"You'll probably want to read that in your old bedroom," her father piped up. "There might be something else waiting for you up there," he added with a sly smile. Kelsi grinned at her parents before heading upstairs to her old bedroom, smiling when she saw another rose lying on the desk that was still in there. She flopped down on a chair and opened up her newest note.

_Hi beautiful,_

_So I was thinking about how it's important for a relationship to be well-balanced. It seems like a bunch of our New York friends are in unbalanced relationships. It's like either they, or the person they're dating, are completely dependent on the other person. One person is always taking care of the other person and the other person never returns the favor. It's not a good thing, I don't think. I'm so grateful for the fact that our relationship isn't like that. We take care of each other. I know sometimes you feel like you're the weaker one in our relationship, but that's simply not true. I can think of a lot of times when I've had to lean on you for support. That's why you're getting this rose. I wanted to remind you of that. There are so many things I could write about, but there's one particular time that's sticking out the most: when my grandpa died..._

Kelsi remembered the time well. It had happened on a Saturday during the spring semester of their second year at Julliard. Kelsi had spent the morning in her favorite practice room and had decided to head back to her dorm room for a quiet lunch. Her roommate had left for home the night before to attend her sister's wedding, leaving Kelsi with the room to herself for the weekend. The week had been a particularly hectic one and while she loved her friends, she had been looking forward to some quiet time alone so she could regroup for the following week. She remembered that she had reached her dorm room and had been searching her bag for her key when she heard the phone ring...

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"Oh where are you?" she muttered to herself, annoyed. She had her bag balanced on her knee and was holding it open with one hand while shifting the contents around with her other as she searched. It would figure that her key would happen to get lost in the black hole that was her bag just as the phone was ringing. "Aha!" she exclaimed, triumphantly, as her fingers finally, mercifully, closed around her keychain. She pulled her key out with a flourish and ignored the odd look she got from someone walking down the hallway. She opened her door and then rushed to get the phone, dropping her bag on the floor in the process. "Hello?"

"Kelsi?" a familiar voice asked softly.

"Yes?"

"It's Zeke..." he trailed off. It was at that moment that Kelsi thought she could hear someone crying in the background.

"Zeke? Is something wrong?" she asked, worried now. "Where are you?"

"In Albuquerque," he answered. "Vance flew me home yesterday so I could see my parents and Sharpay..."

"Is that Sharpay in the background?" Kelsi asked. "Is she okay?"

"Yeah, that's her..." he let out a deep sigh. "Something happened."

"What?" Kelsi was almost scared to ask. She had never heard Zeke sound so serious and sad before.

"Derby's father passed away in his sleep last night," he said quietly. "They just found out a couple of hours ago."

"Oh no," Kelsi whispered. She had only met Derby's father a handful of times, but she had liked him very much. Everyone liked Phillip Johnson it seemed. He was, without question, one of the nicest people that Kelsi had ever had the pleasure to meet and she knew that his family loved him dearly. Vance had thought of him as a father, particularly when his own father had passed away several years ago. Derby had always seen her dad as her hero; something she had passed down to her children as well. Kelsi's heart hurt for Derby and Vance, certainly, but at the moment her biggest concerns were Ryan and Sharpay. Phillip and his wife Dorothy, whom he lovingly called Dot, had both been lovers of the arts – particularly musicals. Kelsi knew that Ryan and Sharpay had spent a lot of time at their house when they were growing up in Rhode Island. Pretty much every time Derby and Vance had to go out of town, the twins would stay with their grandparents. While at their house, Ryan and Sharpay had been introduced to people like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Frank Sinatra, Rosemary Clooney, Ann Miller, Ginger Rogers and countless others.

Phillip had also been the first one to realize the talent that both of the twins had and had been the first to encourage them to develop it. While Derby and Vance loved watching their children perform, Phillip was without question their biggest fan. He and his wife always made it a point to not only go to every performance but also to tape them as well. When Vance had been transferred to Albuquerque, both Phillip and Dorothy had been devastated. They weren't always able to make it out for their shows, but Kelsi knew that Vance always arranged to have someone film them. He would then get the tapes in the mail and Phillip and Dorothy would watch them and then call to rave about them. Ryan and Sharpay both adored their grandfather and looked up to him. Phillip had a talent for capturing the attention of everyone in a room; a trait that Sharpay had inherited. He also had kind blue eyes and a love for hats; two things that had been passed down to his grandson.

"Yeah..." Zeke said slowly. "They're all pretty broken up."

"Does Ryan know?" Kelsi asked.

"Yes...they called him and put him on the speakerphone. Derby and Sharpay have been crying since they found out and I think both Vance and Ryan were trying to be strong for them but...well it hit them pretty hard too...I...wait, hold on a second Kelsi," Zeke said softly. Kelsi could hear him holding a whispered conversation with who she assumed was Sharpay. A few seconds later, "Hey Kelsi...Sharpay wants to talk to you."

"Kelsi?" a voice asked quietly. Kelsi was stricken by the amount of sorrow one word could apparently hold.

"Hi Sharpay," Kelsi said gently. "I'm...I'm really sorry about your grandpa."

"Thank you..." Kelsi heard her sniffle a few times and guessed that she was having a hard time speaking. Zeke must have been right by her side because Kelsi could hear him whispering soothingly in the background, no doubt comforting his girlfriend. "I'm sorry...I just...we really loved him..."

"It's okay," Kelsi whispered. A naturally compassionate person, she felt her own eyes fill up with tears as she listened to Sharpay crying. "I know how much he meant to you all..."

"It's hard...it's hard with all of us being here and R-Ryan being so far away," Sharpay managed. "I'm worried about him...he needs you, Kelsi..." The thought made Kelsi nearly hang up the phone and hurry up to Ryan's dorm room right that second.

"I know...I'll head up to his room the second we hang up," Kelsi assured her.

"Take..." A loud sniffle. "Take care of my twin."

"I...I will," Kelsi promised, barely able to speak over the lump in her throat. Sharpay was obviously struggling with her own grief, but at that moment the only thing that seemed to matter to her was making sure her brother was okay. The fact spoke volumes about Sharpay and touched Kelsi deeply. "If...if there's anything I can do for you or your family, please let me know..."

"Thanks Kelsi," Sharpay managed. There was a pause.

"Hey Kelsi, it's Zeke again...Derby came in and wanted to talk to Sharpay...it's pretty sad over here," Zeke said, with a sigh. "I'm worried about our twins."

"Our twins?" Kelsi asked, momentarily distracted from the sorrow of what had happened.

"Sure...they have the whole special twin relationship thing, obviously. We're each dating one...in this case, I'm worried about them both and well...it just seemed to fit," he explained.

"I kind of like that," she told him. "I'm worried about them too. I've never heard Sharpay so upset..."

"Me either...I want to help her, but I can't..."

"Sure you can," Kelsi argued. "I think she'd be a whole lot worse if you weren't with her. Just love her, Zeke. It'll help."

"Thanks...it's just hard seeing her this way, you know? And Ryan...I think he's in shock...You should've heard him on the phone, Kelsi. He was trying to be strong, like I said earlier, but he sounded...I don't know...numb almost. I don't think it's hit him yet, but when it does it'll probably be pretty bad too..." Zeke paused. "Sharpay's right...he needs you."

"Well then," Kelsi said softly, wiping at a tear that had started rolling down her cheek. "You take care of your twin and I'll take care of mine. Deal?"

"Deal," Zeke agreed. Kelsi said goodbye to him and then hung up the phone. Stopping only to lock her door, Kelsi practically flew out of her room and down the hallway. She ignored the elevators, which tended to be slow, and hurried to the stairs. Ryan's room was two floors up and by the time she reached his door, she had to stop for a couple of seconds to catch her breath. She knocked softly on the door and waited. Hearing no answer, she decided to try and see if it was unlocked – which it was. She slowly opened the door and eased into the room. Ryan was sitting on his couch and Kelsi nearly felt her heart break at the strangely vacant look in his eyes.

"Ryan?" she called him name softly. When he didn't respond she tried again, saying his name a little louder this time. He seemed to jolt slightly at the sound of his name and this time turned to look at her, much to her relief. "I...um...I knocked but you didn't answer..."

"Sorry honey," he said quietly as he slowly stood up and took a couple of steps towards her. "I didn't hear you." His voice sounded strange and hollow and Kelsi was convinced she felt another piece of her heart break off at the sound of it.

"I talked to Zeke and Sharpay..." she whispered as his eyes met hers. The combination of emptiness and pain she saw in them was enough to make her close the gap between them. "I'm so sorry," she said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I can't believe it...I just talked to him last week," he started. He put his arms around her and gently cradled her head to his chest. "He sounded a little sad...he was missing his family...I was thinking about going to visit for Spring Break...I thought that Sharpay could come along and you and Zeke too, if you wanted..." Ryan's grip on her tightened and Kelsi wondered if the news was finally sinking in completely. "I thought...he sounded sad and a little tired but I never thought...he seemed okay otherwise...I should've just got on a plane and gone for a visit after he called instead of wanting to wait. I should have guessed something was wrong..."

"Oh Ryan," Kelsi said softly, pulling back just enough to look up at him. "You didn't know...you couldn't have."

"He was like the rock of my family...and now he's gone..." Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers and closed his eyes. "What are we going to do without him?" Kelsi moved her arms from around his waist and gently pulled his hand away from his face. She then put a hand on either side of his head.

"You're going to grieve and it's going to be hard for a while," she started slowly. "You're going to miss him terribly, but you're going to pull together. You're going to love and support each other...you're still going to be a family. It'll just be different...and you guys don't have to go through it alone."

"He was my hero," Ryan whispered, tears finally starting to fall from his eyes.

"I know he was," Kelsi said softly, easing her arms around his neck.

"Sharpay's too..." A realization came across his face right then. "You talked to her?" Kelsi nodded. "How is she?"

"She's...she's struggling," she answered honestly. "But there's something you should know."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Me and Zeke have a deal...he's going to take good care of Sharpay," she started. "And I am going to take care of you." Ryan leaned back against the arm of the sofa, pulling her along with him.

"I have to fly home today," he said softly. "My family wants you to come but you don't have to...I don't want you to miss school on account of me."

"Do you want me to go with you?" she asked.

"Well yes, but..."

"But nothing," she cut him off. "You are so much more important to me than school. I'm going with you." She snuggled against him and tightened her grip. "Do me a favor..."

"Anything," he said, resting his head against hers.

"Don't worry about anyone else for a little while...You need to let yourself start to grieve," she said gently. "I'm here for you, honey, it's okay." His tears slowly started falling faster and after a while it was almost like a floodgate had been opened. He was soon holding onto her like he would a lifeline. She stayed quiet for the most part, only occasionally murmuring soothing things to him, and simply let him grieve.

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_I don't know what I would've done without you then, Kelsi. For that matter, I don't know what my family would've done without you. Losing my grandpa was devastating for us. All of us had so much grief of our own to deal with and as a result weren't really able to be there for each other like we wanted to be. You were such a rock for my family along with Zeke. I know that all of my family members leaned on you at least once over the course of that week. Even my uncle, who you had never even met, found himself being comforted by you at one point. You're such a loving and empathetic person, honey. Anytime you saw someone crying, you had to head over and at the very least offer them a tissue. Your compassionate heart is one of my favorite things about you. You are always there for me whenever I need you and you are truly my rock and main support. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you to lean on when things get bad. I love you so much for that. _

_Why lavender for this rose? One of the meanings of the lavender rose is adoration. I know this kind of ties in with a few of the other roses you've received today, though I don't believe I've used that word. I really like that word as it applies to you. I know love and adoration basically amount to the same thing in a lot of ways, but stay with me here. I did some homework here and actually looked up the word in a thesaurus and some of the words that popped up were love, respect, devotion, astonishment...among others. I would definitely apply all of those words to you, especially when my grandpa died. Love...taking the time to show someone an act of compassion is probably one of the best examples of love. You can't love without compassion. Respect...to hold in a high regard...that word also applies because you showed great respect to my family in terms of our grief. Missing school to come home with me was also a sign of respect for my family. Devotion...I think of devotion, I think of commitment. Of dedication. Of support and of attentiveness. All things that you showed because if you weren't devoted, not just to me but to my family, you wouldn't have done as much as you did. You, and Zeke to be fair, made it a mission to help us through it and you did. Astonishment...that's probably the best word to describe how I felt that week. I knew you loved me and I knew you loved my family, but I was completely blown away by how much you helped that week. And not just that but by how much you genuinely and sincerely cared. You didn't do it because you felt like you had to...you did it because you cared about all of us. Yeah...I'd say adoration fits quite nicely. In fact, I adore you period. _

_-Ryan_

_P.S -_ _There's more for me to say about that week when my grandpa died, but that is all in your next note that is of course with your next rose. I believe you'll find that on your old desk. _

"Oh Ryan," Kelsi sniffled as she set this last letter on the desk along with the gorgeous lavender rose. She picked up the rose that had been lying on the desk when she had come in the room – this one was light orange. She studied it for a moment and then set it back down, picking up the note that came with it.

_Hey baby,_

_I think sometimes in relationships, particularly boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, that it can be hard for some people to manage to be both friend and boy/girlfriend. What do I mean by that? Well sometimes people get so caught up in being friends than any kind of romance or whatever is basically non-existent. Other times people get so caught up in the romantic, lovey-dovey stuff that they forget to be a friend. Relationships are about more than just hanging out all the time. They're also more than just making out all the time. That's why I chose orange for this rose. I gave you an orange rose earlier that symbolized the transition from friendship to love. This time I want you to think about the color itself. Or actually I want you to think about the two colors needed in order to create this color. Red and yellow...love and friendship. Both existing at exactly the same time. It goes back to my whole balance thing of my last letter. I've seen people manage to flip flop between the roles, but sometimes it can be hard to be both at the same time. _

_Unless that person happens to be you. I don't know how you do it so well, but you seem to have a talent for it. You can wear both hats, if you will, at the same time and make it look easy. That was never more obvious as it was after my grandpa's funeral. If I remember correctly, I was driving you absolutely insane..._

Kelsi remembered, all right. Everyone had gathered back at the Evans' house after the funeral for the reception and Ryan had apparently decided to take on the job of making sure that everyone else was okay. Kelsi had known that he was using it as an excuse to avoid his own pain. It had been driving her crazy; only because she knew that the longer he put off dealing with it, the worse it would be when he finally did. She remembered that there had been a point where she found herself in a huddle of sorts with Vance and Zeke...

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"What is it with men?" Kelsi asked, to neither one in particular. "Why can't they deal with their emotions instead of bottling them up?"

"Let me guess..." Zeke piped up. "This is about Ryan."

"Yes," she confirmed. "I just asked him if he was okay and you know what he said?" She plowed on before either one of them could guess. "He said he was fine and then asked if I had eaten anything. Like that even matters. I don't care what he says...he is most definitely not fine. Far from fine, in fact. He needs to deal with it, not worry about whether or not I've eaten."

"The nerve of that guy," Zeke agreed, shaking his head in mock annoyance. "How dare he worry about his girlfriend?" Kelsi rolled her eyes.

"That's not the point," she muttered. Zeke softened.

"You're really worried about him aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes," she sighed. "Why won't he let me help?"

"He's too busy worrying about everyone else," Zeke answered. "As you know."

"I don't know what to do," she confessed.

"I do," Zeke offered. "We divide and conquer."

"Excuse me?"

"Ryan's been worrying the most about Sharpay and Derby right?" Zeke asked. Kelsi nodded.

"He'd be fussing over his grandma too if his uncle wasn't taking care of her at the moment," she added.

"Proof that my plan will work...I'll take care of Sharpay like I promised," Zeke started. "Vance, you take care Derby. And Kelsi...you let Ryan take care of you."

"I...what?" Kelsi blinked. "I thought the point was to make him stop worrying about everyone else."

"It is, but I think that the only way you'll get him to do that is to get him away from everyone else," Zeke explained. "And the only way you'll be able to do _that_ is if Ryan thinks you need him. Once you have him alone you'll be able to talk to him."

"That could work," Kelsi said thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Vance agreed. The three of them worked their way over to the couch that Derby and Sharpay were sitting on. Vance leaned down to say something to Derby and she nodded slowly before getting up. Vance led her over to where all the food was laid out, no doubt intent on making her eat something. With the spot next to Sharpay now empty, Zeke slipped in and put his arm around her. At that exact moment Ryan came back with a plate of food that he offered to his sister.

"Come on Sharpay, you have to eat something," he urged her.

"I'm not hungry," she sniffed.

"You have to keep your strength up," Zeke said calmly, taking the plate from Ryan. "Ryan's right." He looked up at Kelsi and she nodded and turned to Ryan.

"Hey honey..." she started.

"Oh shoot, I should've gotten you something too," Ryan said, looking back over where the food was located.

"No...No it's okay. I'll eat something later," she assured him. "I wanted to walk around a bit...get away from everyone else for a while."

"Are you okay?" The question came so naturally that she almost smiled.

"Yeah..." Zeke raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean no..." she corrected. "I just have to get away from all the sadness for a while. Come with me?" She held a hand out. "Please?"

"Sure," Ryan said, taking her hand in his. Kelsi led him away from all the mourners and found a room that was empty.

"Let's sit in here," she said.

"Okay," he agreed, studying her as he sat down in a recliner. Kelsi surveyed the room and then decided just to sit on Ryan's lap, angling herself so that she could put her arm around him. "What's wrong baby? You look like you have something on your mind."

"I do," she confirmed. "You. Honey...you've been doing a really good job taking care of everyone, but you're not taking care of yourself."

"I'm fine, Kelsi," he said. "Really."

"No you're not," she argued softly. "You're acting like you are and you're trying to convince yourself and the rest of us that you are, but I know you too well for that. You're trying to put off dealing with your pain and it's not good for you. Because you can only avoid it for so long. The longer you put it off, the worse it's going to get. So that when you finally have to deal with it, it's going to be so much worse."

"Kelsi...it's sweet of you to be so worried and I love you for that, but I really am fine. Don't worry about me," he started but she shook her head.

"Fat chance of that," she muttered. "I'll stop worrying about you when you start dealing with everything. Now look...your uncle is taking care of your grandma. You dad is taking care of your mom and Zeke is taking care of Sharpay. And you are going to let me take care of you like I told you I would. You don't always have to be the strong one." She moved so that she was sitting more on the arm of the chair in order to guide his head to her shoulder. "If nothing else, just let me hold you for a while."

"This is kind of a role reversal isn't it?" he asked softly, easing his arms around her as best he could in their current position.

"It is," she agreed. "But that's okay."

"I really miss him," he whispered after a couple of minutes of silence.

"I know you do baby." She kissed the top of his head. "I know you do."

_------------------------------------------_

_The way I figure it, you were balancing both friend and girlfriend right then. You knew me well enough to know what I was doing and what I needed to do. You loved me enough to talk to me about it, like a friend would, and to also love me through it like a girlfriend would. It's hard for me to explain, but I think you'll know what I mean. You always seem to. No one knows me as well as you do and no one loves me as well as you do either. That's what I mean. You're my best friend and my girlfriend at the exact same time and I love that about you._

_Love,_

_Ryan_

_P.S - Seems to me that it'd be pretty sad for my birthday girl to go through her whole day without having a party. Head back out to the limo. You have a party to attend. _


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks for the continued support everyone! Since my last update, this has officially become my most favorited story and also has the most alerts. I'm so happy everyone's liked this so far. There's technically three roses in this chapter, bring us to 23 total, though the explanation for the third one takes place in the next chapter. I had a really hard time figuring out what the first couple of roses would be for this time...not my favorite roses but they work. Almost at the end! I can't wait to write the next three roses since all of those are going to be pretty special. Hope you guys like this chapter! Reviews = love. :)**

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"Bye honey," Kelsi's mom called from the front door. "We'll see you later!" Kelsi turned and waved at her parents before reaching the limo.

"Just to warn you," the limo driver said as he opened the door for Kelsi, "there's someone in there waiting for you. They showed up while you were visiting your parents and they'll be coming along with us."

"Oh," Kelsi said, surprised. "Thanks for the warning." He smiled at her. She peeked in the limo and then let out a small squeal. "Martha!"

"Hi Kelsi!" the former Martha Cox said brightly. She had married Jason about three and a half years ago. Everyone had been surprised when they found out about the wedding; mainly because Martha had always talked about waiting to get married until she was older. But things apparently changed. Jason and Martha had talked about marriage and family several times in their relationship and both agreed that they wanted to have a big family someday. With the prospect of becoming a mother to multiple children on the horizon, Martha decided it would be better to get married sooner than she had originally planned. Now three and a half years had passed and they had had two children: a boy and a girl. Jessica, or Jessie as she was usually called, would turn three in a couple of months and Matthew was just over ten months old.

"Where are the kids?" Kelsi asked as she got in the limo and leaned over to hug her friend.

"At home with Jason," Martha grinned. "When I left, Matthew was down for a nap while Jessie and Jason were playing with her dolls."

"Somehow I can't imagine Jason playing with dolls," Kelsi said with a giggle.

"It's definitely not his favorite thing in the world," Martha laughed. "But all Jessie has to do is look up at him with her puppy dog face and he caves. That little girl has him completely wrapped around her finger." Martha's smile softened. "Jason's such a good father."

"Makes me wonder what Ryan will be like when he's a dad," Kelsi said with a smile. Martha raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something you haven't told me?" she asked, looking down at Kelsi's left hand pointedly. Kelsi laughed.

"No...Not yet anyway," Kelsi answered.

"Hmm," Martha said, studying her.

"What?" Kelsi asked.

"It just makes me wonder...if that's what he's setting you up for today," Martha replied. For a couple of seconds Kelsi just stared at her. "Um Kelsi?" Martha waved her hand in front of Kelsi's face playfully. "Oh come on, that's had to have crossed your mind at some point today."

"No," Kelsi shook her head. "I mean...the topic of marriage has come up but not from Ryan..."

"Well it's is Valentine's Day...and your birthday...and he did go through a lot of trouble..." Martha grinned. "He's totally going to propose." Kelsi's eyes narrowed.

"Do you know something?" she asked.

"No," Martha told her. "I just have a feeling." She brightened and reached beside her for a yellow rose. "Which actually works out pretty well because that's what this rose is about."

"A feeling?" Kelsi asked, skeptically.

"Well no," Martha said. "Feelings in general. You've heard a lot about certain traits you have that he loves, some of which overlap with this rose. He's talked to you about joy and about how empathetic you are. He loves those things, but he also loves the way you feel. Like...how you cry at sad movies or commercials. How you can read a book and get so involved in the emotions of the characters, almost like the story was happening to you yourself. How you can get so excited about things. He loves how he can look at you and know exactly what you're feeling. Even if he doesn't always know what's causing you to feel whatever it is. Going back to your whole empathy thing, he loves how in tune you are with your feelings. He loves how you can wear your emotions on your sleeve, so to speak."

"So he loves the fact that I'm emotional?" Kelsi asked softly.

"In a matter of speaking," Martha nodded. "He chose yellow for this rose because it's such a bright color. It's the kind of color that you can't help but notice. Just like your feelings. You feel things so strongly, good and bad things, that they almost just like radiate off of you. Kind of like the brightness of the yellow rose. And he loves that."

------------------------------

"I should've known we'd end up here," Kelsi said later as she found herself standing next to Martha outside of the house Vance and Derby lived in. The house that Sharpay and Ryan had lived in while they were in high school, the same house Kelsi had spent countless hours in. Well actually, mansion was probably a better word. Even after all the times she had been to this place, Kelsi still found herself impressed by it.

"Can you think of a better place to have a party?" Martha asked, smiling at her. "Come on." She led the way to the front door and Kelsi followed. The door opened before Martha could knock and they found themselves facing a smiling Derby.

"Hello girls," Derby said warmly. She gave Martha a brief hug and then moved to Kelsi. "So how has your day been so far?" she asked, with a sly grin.

"Pretty good," Kelsi laughed. "This day is going to be a tough one to beat."

"I would imagine so," Derby nodded. "Come on in, there are a lot of people waiting for you."

"Would one of them be your son?" Kelsi asked, optimistically.

"You'll have to wait and see," was the answer.

"What is that, your family motto?" At the question Derby laughed.

"That was the answer I was told to give if...no when," Derby corrected herself, "you asked. I will tell you there's at least one person in here you haven't seen yet. And here he is now." Derby gestured and Kelsi found herself facing Jason.

"Hey Kelsi," he said, smiling. He leaned in to give her a hug and then presented her with both a pink rose and a note. "Everyone else got to give you a flower, so Ryan thought it'd only be fair to let me give you one too."

"You don't have to give a speech?" Kelsi teased him.

"No, thank God," he laughed. "Apparently he thought it'd be a little awkward for anyone else to tell you what this rose was about so he wrote a note instead."

"Thanks Jason," she smiled at him. "Hey," she added, with a twinkle in her eye, "I heard you were playing with dolls earlier. How'd that go?" He grinned.

"Hey, it takes a real man to be willing to play with dolls," he joked. Kelsi laughed. "Now, I'm supposed to tell you to go off somewhere by yourself when you read that note. But before you go off and do that, come on in and say hi to everyone." Kelsi nodded and followed him into the living room, smiling when she noticed that it was full of all of their friends. Her parents were also there, along with Ms. Darbus, Haley and, of course, Vance. She went around the room hugging each person and then slipped away after several minutes to read her newest note. She had taken her coat off after getting inside the house and hadn't bothered putting it back on when she went upstairs and outside to one of the many balconies.

"Okay Ryan," she mumbled to herself. "What do you have to say now?" She opened up the letter and began to read...

_Hi valentine,_

_So I had Martha talk to you about feelings and how I loved the way you feel. With that rose, I was strictly talking about emotions. Now I'm going to stay on the topic of feelings, but this time I mean it in more of a physical sense. I chose pink for this rose to symbolize affection. I love how affectionate you are. Early on in our relationship, you could be so shy about showing affection. It wasn't that you wouldn't show any at all, but it took a while for you to feel comfortable. Both when we were alone and when we were around other people. I remember the first week back in school after our Christmas break of our senior year at East High. Our friends knew we had officially become a couple, of course, but no one else did. There were several weeks where anytime anyone noticed any kind of affection between us that you would break it off. You usually ended up apologizing to me about it later on, which was always so cute. Looking back I'm happy you were shy about that in the beginning. Because when we got to a point where you were actually comfortable being affectionate, both in public and when we were alone, it seemed like it meant so much more. Now instead of shying away from affection, half the time you initiate it. And I absolutely love that. _

_Zeke talked to you earlier about how I loved the way you feel in my arms when we're dancing and while that is certainly true, I love the way you feel anytime you're in my arms. I know sometimes you get a little self-conscious about being short, but I love it. It's kind of like you were made for me. I love the way we fit together. Like how we can have our arms around each other and it just fits. I love how perfectly your hands fit in mine. I love the way you hold onto me and snuggle against me. I love how you almost melt into me when I kiss you. In fact, I love kissing you period. You always put so much feeling into our kisses and I can never seem to get enough. I never realized how much love can go into even a small kiss on the cheek. Maybe it's because we love each other so much, I don't know. But whatever it is, I love it. It makes me want to grab onto you and just hold you. I can be having the worst day in the world and you can come over and put your arms around me and all of a sudden it's like nothing else matters. I told you earlier that you're my rock. I meant it emotionally, but it's true in a physical sense too. As long as you're holding onto me, I know that everything is going to be okay. That somehow everything is going to work itself out. There isn't anything that can happen that we can't get through as long as we have each other. If we go out somewhere and get lost, but you're still holding my hand I know that everything is going to be okay. I love you honey. I love holding you and kissing you and I love being with you. As long as I can do all of those things, there isn't anything else I need. I just need you._

_Love you,_

_Ryan_

------------------------------------------

"Okay God," Kelsi said to herself a few minutes after finishing her newest letter. She was still outside on the balcony and looking up at the sky, which by now was decorated with all of the stars and the moon. The sun had set and Kelsi had found herself reflecting on the day and on Ryan. Now the day was coming to a close and Ryan still hadn't shown up, much to her dismay. It was hard for her to believe that she had actually seen him the day before. It hadn't even been twenty four hours and yet she found herself missing him so much that it actually hurt. After reading his last note, she could practically feel her arms physically aching to hold onto him. She had decided against trying to pump her friends and family for information regarding his whereabouts and now, as she stood on the balcony, she decided to take her requests to a higher power. "Please let him get here," she whispered, somewhat surprised to find her eyes filling up with tears. "I need to see him today. Please..." Just then she caught sight of a shooting star and so closed her eyes, making a wish. It may have been silly, but she hadn't been able to resist. "Please let him get here," she repeated. There was a light tapping on the door leading out to the balcony and her eyes widened as she spun around, fully expecting it to be Ryan.

It wasn't. Instead she found herself looking at Troy. "Hey Playmaker," he said, with a smile. "You've been out here for a while. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, letting out a long sigh. "I was just hoping you'd be Ryan...sorry."

"I figured," he chuckled. "Someone wanted me to come up and give you a coat since you're out here freezing."

"I'm not that cold," she argued, and then frowned when she realized she was shivering. "Well...maybe a bit." Troy laughed and gestured for her to turn around.

"We can't have our birthday girl freezing on her birthday, now can we?" he asked, settling the coat on her shoulders. She stuck her arms in the sleeves and let out another sigh as she turned back to face him. "What's wrong Kelsi?" Troy asked quietly.

"It's been a great day," she started. "I have an amazing boyfriend who went through the trouble of putting all of this together. I got to see my family and friends and now everyone is downstairs at a birthday party for me. But as much as I love you all...as happy as I am to see all of you...it's just not the same with Ryan not here. It's getting late..." She turned back towards the railing, taking a hold of it with both hands. A couple of seconds later, Troy moved to stand beside her.

"Not terribly late," Troy pointed out. "We haven't even had your birthday dinner and cake yet."

"I guess you're right," Kelsi nodded. "I just really miss him." Troy nodded in understanding.

"You know...that's really a nice coat someone gave me to give to you," he said, tilting his head to the side.

"Okay...that was kind of random, Troy," Kelsi said, giving him an odd look.

"No really...look at it. It's nice," he pressed.

"Um...okay..." she said slowly. She glanced down at the coat she was wearing, not expecting to see anything in particular. She froze as she looked at it, feeling her heart start to beat a little faster. This coat, while not her own, was a familiar one. A very familiar one. She looked up at Troy, who was smirking at her. She took hold of the lapel and leaned her head down slightly to give it a sniff, smiling when she realized that the smell that this coat carried was familiar as well. And not only was it familiar, but it was also quite possibly her favorite smell in the world. Because this smell happened to belong to one person in particular.

"I think that's my cue," Troy said, with another nod. He moved to head back inside, patting her on her shoulder on his way.

"Would you like to tell me," another voice, _his_ voice, started, "why you were standing out here without a coat on when it's so cold out?" Kelsi felt her heart leap inside her chest at the sound of his voice, though she stayed where she was.

"I don't know," she answered. "I guess I was hoping that some really talented and handsome guy would come to my aid." She smirked, though he couldn't see it.

"Guess it's your lucky day," he said, sounding like he had moved closer. She still didn't turn around, though it was hard for her not to.

"Yes," she agreed. "Thank goodness for Troy."

"Well Troy may have made the delivery," he began, "but that does happen to be my coat." Kelsi felt her heart beat faster as he eased an arm around her waist from behind. A couple of seconds later, she felt his other arm come around her shoulder and found herself looking at a beautiful purple rose. "This, however, belongs to you."

"Oh!" she gasped, surprised though it occurred to her a second later that she shouldn't have been. "It's beautiful! Just like all of the others." She took the rose from him and then smiled as she felt her hair being gently pulled back and away from her face on one side.

"Just like you," he said softly, his lips grazing her ear. She shivered slightly, though this time it had less to do with the cold and more to do with him. "Happy birthday, valentine."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I am completely floored as I'm writing this because right now, thanks to all of you, I have over 100 reviews for a story that only has 8 chapters. I never imagined that this story would get as much attention as it has and this is now my most reviewed story. As a writer I'm just happy people are reading it, but the fact that people are not only reading but reviewing so much is...wow. I don't even know what to say. Thank you all so much for the support! Meanwhile, as you all noticed in the last chapter Ryan is back! I'm not sure who's happier to see him: y'all or Kelsi, haha. ****One rose in this chapter - was originally going to be two roses, but it ended up being 9 pages in Microsoft Word and the second explanation isn't even done. Thought that was too long for one chapter so I decided to break it up. The good news about that is that since the next chapter is pretty much done, the next update should be really soon. I liked writing Haley, with her massive crush on Ryan, so much in chapter 5 that I decided to write a special scene for her in this chapter that I think is pretty cute. Hope you all like this chapter!**

* * *

"You made it," Kelsi sighed happily, leaning back against him.

"Of course I did," Ryan said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "I wasn't going to go through all of that and not see you today."

"Oh Ryan," she whispered, turning in his arms just enough to be able to bring her mouth to his. She managed to finish turning around to face him while still kissing him. She pulled back after a long moment to look at him, letting out a squeal as she literally hopped back into his arms. "You're really here!"

"Geez Kelsi," he chuckled, as she started more or less covering his face with kisses. "Would it kill you to show some kind of enthusiasm?" She giggled in response.

"You are absolutely amazing." She paused to kiss his cheek again. "All the letters." Another kiss. "All the roses." Another kiss, this time on his other cheek. "And our friends and families." Another one. "This is the most incredible thing anyone has ever done for me and I love you." Another one. "I love you." Another one. "I love you." Another one. "I love you."

"I love you too baby," he said softly.

"I know," she said in response, beaming at him. "How could I not know after today? Not just today but everyday. How'd I get so lucky?"

"That's something I ask myself every single day," he smiled at her. "I'm the lucky one here."

"I think I beg to differ," she argued, leaning in to kiss him on his lips. The kiss was sweet and lingered for several moments. When it ended, he opened his mouth to say something but she shook her head. "I'm not done with you yet," she murmured, kissing him again. This one slowly built up in intensity and she was rewarded when she heard him moan softly as he pressed her against the railing. "Thank you for today," she somehow muttered against his lips. The kiss lingered until they had to pull away to get some air. "I think you were about to say something else before I cut you off," she said softly.

"Um...yeah..." he said slowly, blinking.

"What was it?" she asked gently.

"I have no idea," he admitted, his brow furrowed. He gave her a mock stern look. "No fair, Kelsi. You can't kiss me like that and than expect me to remember my original thought."

"Sorry," she giggled.

"Dang it...what was I going to say?" he muttered, more to himself than to her.

"Was it about this?" she asked, moving her new purple rose into his line of vision.

"Yes!" he exclaimed. "Thank you." He studied the rose for several moments and then focused his gaze on her. "The purple rose, like the other colors, has a lot of meanings associated with it. I could probably apply them all to you, but I'm just going to focus on three. The first of those is royalty."

"Royalty?" she asked, wrinkling her nose at him. "How in the world can you associate me with royalty? I'm about as far from royal as you can get."

"When me and Sharpay were growing up, she always loved watching all of the princess movies. She would get so caught up in the idea of princes and princesses and knights and dragons. She liked to pretend that she was a princess and believed that she should be treated like one," he grinned. "Something that stayed with her as we grew up."

"Every girl wants to be treated like a princess," Kelsi said, thoughtfully. "Of course, some girls can get a little carried away."

"Like my sister at times," he nodded. "That was one of her favorite games. She'd be the princess and I'd get stuck in the dual role of knight and dragon a lot of the time. Usually whenever she had no one else to play her game with."

"So what, you'd slay yourself?" she asked, amused.

"In a matter of speaking. Not the easiest thing in the world to do," he informed her.

"I would imagine not," she chuckled.

"Not my favorite game to play, I have to admit. But when I got older, I started thinking that she had a point. About the whole being treated like a princess thing, that is. Maybe I didn't think of it in quite the same way...in her world, being treated like a princess meant being waited on hand and foot. It meant that her prince would do whatever it was that she wanted, whether he wanted to or not. If he didn't, she'd throw one of her classic temper tantrums. It all revolved around her in a way that was entirely selfish." He paused. "To be fair to my sister, though, in the past few years her definition of being treated like a princess has changed. Now we're kind of on the same page."

"And what page would that be?" Kelsi wanted to know.

"Well...in a perfect fairytale world, both the man and the woman would treat the other one like a prince or princess. It's not about _being_ treated well; it's about _treating_ well...if that makes any sense. Like if they each put the other one first, than they both get taken care of. It's not about seeing _yourself_ as a prince or princess; it's about seeing the _other_ person as a prince or princess, even if they about as far from being one as someone can get. It's about holding the other person in high esteem and looking at them in the same way you'd look at a precious jewel," he explained.

"Kind of like how Zeke looks at Sharpay," Kelsi smiled.

"And how I look at you," Ryan said softly. "Only unlike my sister, who took a while to realize that she had that with Zeke, I figured it out pretty quickly. You were always special, even before we started dating. In fact...do you know why I went through all that trouble during our senior year?" He went on before she could answer. "It's because I always knew how precious you were, and I knew that if I was ever going to have a chance of deserving you that I would have to work for it. Kind of like how the prince always has to fight off some kind of monster or villain before he can get his girl. I associate royalty with you because I want you to feel like a princess. My beautiful, precious princess. I don't always do the best job at it, but it doesn't change the way I see you. I want you to look at that rose and know that there couldn't be anything more precious and valuable to me than you."

"Oh Ryan," she sniffled, leaning up to brush her lips against his.

"So that's meaning number one," he said, changing gears. "Meaning number two...the purple rose is often used to symbolize love at first sight. And I have to admit that I never really believed in that before. Attraction at first sight, absolutely. Lust, definitely. But love? Real love? I had my doubts about that one." He smiled at her. "Until I saw you. I can't even describe what I felt when I saw you for the first time. I'd had girlfriends and crushes before, but I had never felt anything like that in my life. I had absolutely no idea what it was for a long time. I guess you could say that it took my head a while to catch up with my heart." He chuckled. "Do you know when I finally figured it out?" Kelsi shook her head, ignoring the tears in her eyes. "The summer after our junior year when I thought you were dating Jason." Kelsi felt her eyes nearly bug out of her head.

"Me and Jason?" she asked, surprised. "We never dated."

"You guys seemed like you were spending an awful lot of time together..."

"He's practically my brother." She made a face at him. "We hung out a lot, sure, but only because we had a couple of classes together where we always seemed to be stuck together for projects. We got close and all but not like that!"

"Hey, I wasn't the only one who thought that you two were dating," he countered.

"Who else?"

"Almost everyone...except for Sharpay, oddly enough," he replied. "All I know is that I saw the two of you together and wanted to go over and punch his lights out. And," he added, his eyes twinkling, "I believe there was a point where Martha was having visions of heading over and pulling your hair out too."

"Oh honestly," Kelsi laughed, shaking her head. "Did it occur to either one of you to ask us if we were dating?"

"Of course not. That would've only been logical," he grinned. "We figured it out soon enough. And in any event, seeing you so close with another guy was enough to finally make me realize what it was that I felt for you. I had been hopelessly in love with you since the moment I saw you and was too stupid to know it. I should almost thank Jason, actually. Without him, who knows how long it would've taken me to figure it out. And once I did, there was no going back. After all," his voice grew tender, "you had my heart from that first moment even if I didn't know it. Which brings me to the last thing that this rose symbolizes...enchantment. Kelsi...I am totally enchanted by you. It's not just the things you do; it's the way you do them. You know, the way you move...the way you play the piano...the way you talk..."

"Oh Ryan," she whispered.

"The way you say my name," he smiled. "The way you smile..." He brought his hands to her face and started gently brushing away her tears with his thumbs. "The way you laugh...the way you cry when you're happy...The way you love me...the way you love your friends and your family...The way you do everything. You have me completely under your spell and you don't even know it. I don't think there's anything or anyone that could break it, which is great for me because I'm perfectly happy being under it. You're like my own, personal, princess slash enchantress and I wouldn't have it any other way."

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_Several minutes later._

"We should go inside."

"I like being out here with you," she said, in protest.

"It's freezing and you're shivering," he pointed out.

"Hold me closer then," she suggested.

"I don't think that's physically possible," he said, with a laugh. "I'm holding you as tightly as I can while still letting you breathe. You're also wearing my coat and you're still shivering. Time to go inside," he eased back to look at her. "Besides there's other people here who are probably getting annoyed with me for hogging the birthday girl. Especially since there's currently a party going on without us and you're kind of the guest of honor." Kelsi waved a hand in dismissal.

"It's also Valentine's Day and everyone is probably hanging out with their spouse," she reminded him. "Well not Haley and Ms. Darbus, but everyone else."

"Well that's true," he agreed. "But even so...it's still your party."

"Then I should be able to do what I want," she shot back, smiling sweetly at him. "Right?"

"So what, you want to freeze to death out here?" he teased her.

"I just want to be with you," she told him.

"You'll still be with me," he said, softly. "You'll just be with me inside where it's nice and warm."

"Nice and warm does sound good," she admitted.

"Yeah...nice and warm and surrounded by people who love you. Sounds pretty good to me too," he nodded. "Besides...don't you want your next rose? I did promise you twenty five, after all, and there's still two left. Both of which are inside."

"Okay, okay...we'll go inside," she agreed. "But at some point tonight I want to have you all to myself again."

"You will," he promised.

----------------------------

The party was going on full swing by the time Ryan and Kelsi made it back to the group. The scene made Kelsi smile. The room was currently full of all of her favorite people, all of them looking like they were having a good time. She spotted Haley as the girl made her way towards them.

"Hey Kelsi," Haley started. "I'd love to stay longer, but I'm meeting a few friends over to watch some movies. We made the plans a while ago...before I knew about this party or I'd stay..." She looked nervous and Kelsi smiled gently at her.

"No worries, Haley. Thanks for coming," Kelsi said, stepping forward to give her a hug.

"Happy birthday Kelsi," Haley said brightly. She glanced over at Ryan shyly. "Thanks for letting me be a part of everything..."

"There was no way I could've left you out," he said warmly, making her blush and lower her gaze to the floor. Ryan studied the teenager for a moment. "Hey...before you go...do you want to dance?"

"Really?" Haley's head shot up so fast that it was comical. "You'd dance with me?"

"Sure."

"Really?" Haley asked again, sounding absolutely delighted at the idea. She turned her focus to Kelsi. "Is that okay? I mean it is your birthday and he is your boyfriend and all that..."

"I don't mind," Kelsi assured her, trying not to laugh at Haley's enthusiasm. "But just one," she added, in a mock stern voice. Ryan held out his hand to Haley, who barely suppressed a squeal as she took it and let him lead her out to the middle of the room.

"I think it's safe to say that this has officially just become the best Valentine's Day of Haley's life," Gabriella decided, with a grin, as she made her way over to stand beside Kelsi. "She's gotten to dance with all of our guys and I think she has a small crush on each of them. Ryan is still her favorite though. Her crush on him is so cute."

"It is," Kelsi smiled. She watched as Ryan twirled Haley around the makeshift dance floor, occasionally spinning her around which always seemed to set off a burst of giggles from the teenager. When the song ended, Ryan pulled up Haley's hand to kiss it. For a brief moment it looked as if Haley was literally about to pass out from the shock of it.

"I feel really bad for her friends now," Gabriella chuckled, still standing by Kelsi. "She's going to be talking about that kiss all night." Haley practically bounced back over to them.

"Oh Kelsi," she whispered. "You are the luckiest girl in the world. He twirled me," she said dreamily. "I've never been twirled before!" She let out a squeal, causing Gabriella to nearly choke on the drink she had just taken a sip out of. "And he kissed my hand! I am never washing this hand ever again," she announced, holding it up in reverence. Kelsi's lip twitched as Gabriella fought valiantly to keep from laughing. Haley gave Kelsi a sheepish smile. "Sorry...I know he's your boyfriend, but I can't help it."

"Ryan does tend to have that affect on people," Kelsi nodded. "Don't worry about it." She walked Haley to the door and gave her another hug goodbye before returning to Gabriella, who by then had been joined by Ryan. "You are quite possibly the sweetest guy on the planet. You do realize that."

"It was just a dance," he said, looking slightly bewildered. "One dance. You'd think I asked her to marry me or something the way she was acting. But...it was just a dance."

"Yes, but you twirled her. She had never been twirled before," Gabriella giggled. "The way she talked about it made it sound like the highlight of her life."

"No, Gabriella, I think the highlight of her life was the kiss," Kelsi grinned. "Twirling her and then kissing her on the hand? Were you trying to kill her?"

"Hey, is it my fault I'm so irresistible to women?" Ryan joked. He then shrugged. "It's Valentine's Day...every girl should feel special."

"Speaking of special," Zeke piped up as he joined them. "Don't you have another rose to give to our birthday girl?"

"That I do," Ryan nodded. "Nice transition into that, by the way."

"I'm like the king of transitions today," Zeke informed him. "Right Kelsi?" he added, giving her a wink. Kelsi giggled.

"Oh yes," she said, seriously. "All hail the king of transitions."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yeah so, this chapter should've been posted yesterday, but my internet kept acting up. First I got kicked offline about 10 times and then it finally got to a point where it wouldn't even let me get on at all. Things seem to be back to normal at the moment, so who knows what that was about yesterday. Gotta love technology, right? I have to say that I love the rose in this chapter. Not sure where the inspiration for it came from, but I think it fits. There's a few parts I think I could've done better (like Vance's part), but all in all I'm pretty happy with this one. One more rose left! I think this'll be a fairly quick update this time - assuming my internet keeps working like it's supposed to, that is. I already have the chapter completely planned out so I basically only have to type it up. I can't wait to get that one done! Though I have to say I'm a little sad that there's only one rose left since I've really enjoyed writing this story. One word for everyone: sequel. There _will_ be one. I just have to decide if I want to have it be my next new story or if I want to start one of the other stories I have planned. We'll see. **

**T****hanks, as always, for all of the reviews and support so far! Hope you all like this chapter. :)**

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It was at that point that Kelsi noticed that the music that had been playing in the background had been turned off and everyone had gone silent. Ms. Darbus stepped forward and announced that, unfortunately, she had to leave in order to catch a plane. She gave Kelsi a big hug and wished her a happy birthday once more before leaving. Ryan offered her his hand and she took it, letting him lead her to one of the armchairs in the living room. He motioned for her to sit down and she did, realizing that everyone else was finding places to sit as well. Ryan left the room for a moment and returned with a beautiful red rose. The attention of the room was focused on Ryan as they all waited for him to speak.

"So originally, my goal in coming up with all of these roses was to let you know how much I love you," he started, looking at Kelsi while he spoke. "But as I started thinking about what I could do for each rose, my goal changed. It went from wanting you to know how much I love you to wanting you to know how much you are loved in general. Because the truth is that everyone here loves you, Kelsi. You mean so much to all of us and I thought that it only seemed fitting that one of your roses would be from the group as a whole. All day I've been telling you how much I love you, in one way or another. Now I want to give everyone else a chance to do the same thing. And I think the best place to start is with the people who loved you first." Ryan turned towards Kelsi's mother, Karen, and handed her the rose.

"You know, Kelsi," Karen began. "When your father and I got married, we dreamed of having a big family. We wanted to have a house full of kids and for a long time we wondered if that dream was going to come true. We had been trying to have children for so long with no success. I had managed to get pregnant a few times, but they always ended in miscarriage. We were finally told that we would probably never have children and so we stopped trying. It was too painful. And then, much to our surprise, I got pregnant again. With you. I spent most of the pregnancy in bed rest and every day that passed where I remained pregnant was a miracle. The day you were born was the happiest day of my life. We may not have gotten our house full of kids, but that didn't matter anymore. Because once we had you; that was enough. More than enough. The moment I first help you in my arms, I remember feeling like no other mother in the world could possible love their baby more than I loved you. We had wished and hoped and prayed for you for so long..." She trailed off, unable to speak through the tears that were rolling down her face. She looked over at her husband, who nodded and took the rose from her.

"You were our miracle baby. The doctors were all amazed when you were born. And born healthy at that. You became the center of our world the second you came into it. One of the greatest joys in our lives has been watching you become the beautiful person you are today. I remember the first time you showed interest in the piano, we were both thrilled. Neither of us is very musical...as you know," her father chuckled. Kelsi had definitely not inherited her musical talent from either of her parents. "I remember trying to tape your first recital and almost not being able to because I couldn't seem to stop the camera from shaking. I think we were more nervous than you were. We watched you, our beautifully shy little girl, come out on stage and freeze in terror as you noticed the size of the audience. I think we were both debating running up to the stage to rescue you, but you didn't need us. You played your song perfectly, so completely focused in the music that the audience almost didn't matter to you anymore. At least until the song ended. Once the applause started, you gave the fastest bow in history and nearly ran offstage. We were both so proud of you and I remember your mother nearly got kicked out because she was clapping so loudly." He smiled at his daughter. "Over the years we have watched both your talent and confidence grow. If I thought we were proud of you during that first recital, it pales in comparison to how proud we are of you now. Having you for our daughter has been the single greatest blessing of our entire lives. We love you so much, honey. Words cannot even begin to describe how much."

"I love you both," Kelsi whispered, barely able to speak. She felt a nudge and looked over to see Derby reaching over to hand her a box of tissues. She let out a small laugh. "Good call on that one," she managed.

"Now that we have everyone crying," Kelsi's dad, Keith, said with a smile, though tears were in his eyes as well. "Who wants to go next?" He turned to Chad, who happened to be the closest. "Chad?"

"I don't know how any of us can follow that," Chad said, shaking his head. "I'm not even going to come close, but I'll do my best." He studied the rose for a moment before looking over at Kelsi. "What can I say about you, small person? I spent a big part of high school not even aware that you existed," he winced slightly at his honestly. "But that all changed. We kind of talked about that before, actually. I told you that I thought that you were the reason why all of us became friends and it's true. Even though you probably still don't believe it. You brought us all together and I can't imagine not having you in our lives. I don't even want to. You're like a little sister I never had and I...well...I love you, small person." He seemed a little uncomfortable actually saying the words, but Kelsi had no doubts about his sincerity. "And no matter what happens...I have your back. No one messes with my little sister."

"Aw, now that was very sweet honey," Taylor gushed from beside him. "That wasn't so hard, was it?" She smiled at him and then held her hand out for the rose. "The rose I gave you earlier was for unconscious beauty and I still really like how it applies to you. Going off of what Chad said, I really think that you were the reason we all ended up being friends. That said, I don't think you understand how important you are to the group. It wouldn't be the same without you. If we all represented a symphony, you'd be our composer. Your songs were what started everything with all of us during our junior year and then the following summer; we used them to bring our group back together. When we all got caught up in the craziness of senior year, you were the one who realized that we all needed to do the musical together. You understood something that none of the rest of us did at first. Our studies and our grades were not the most important things about high school." Chad gasped dramatically.

"Who are you and what have you done with my wife?" he asked, causing a ripple of laughter to flow through the group. Taylor grinned.

"Maybe I wouldn't have admitted it at the time," she conceded. "But it's true. We were all caught up in what was going on around us and too busy to understand that when we looked back on our time in high school, the things we remembered most wouldn't be what grades we earned on what tests. It would be the time we spent with our friends. Instead of drifting off into all of our various activities, we ended up working together. And as we worked together, our friendships got closer. I don't honestly know if this group would still be as close as we are if we hadn't of had that time. And we never would've had that time if it wasn't for you writing all of our names on that sign in sheet. Our group just wouldn't work if you weren't in it," she finished, softly. "You know you're my girl, Kelsi." She grinned as she looked around the room at the others. "Well one of them, anyway. And I love you." She passed the rose to Gabriella next.

"Well first of all....what Taylor said was so true. She actually said a lot of what I was going to, but that's okay," Gabriella chuckled. "Kelsi, you're one of my favorite people to talk to because you're probably one of the best listeners I know. You're always the first to lend a sympathetic ear when it's needed. I don't know if I ever mentioned it to you before, but I've always respected you. You always tried so hard to be considerate of other people's feelings and always tried to do the right thing. Even if it wasn't easy for you. I admired that...I still do. I think you'll be hearing this a few more times today, but you're like a sister to me. I know that I can trust you with anything and I know that I can always count on you. No matter what." She smiled as she passed the rose to Troy.

"You know Kelsi, in a lot of ways I have you to blame for my whole undecided between basketball and acting thing. If you hadn't of tripped and then got us to sing your song I don't think any of it would've happened. That was the start of my problem and everything just kind of took off from there. It caused a lot of drama sometimes, but I think I became a better person because of it. I was probably the first one who started seeing you like a little sister and I love you like one. You're one of the best people I know, Playmaker." Troy said, smiling at Kelsi. He passed the rose over to Jason.

"I've never been good with this kind of stuff. I'm not going to try and make some great speech because I know I wouldn't be able to do it. So to all of the ones done by our friends, I say ditto. I love you, Kelsi," he said simple. He then smirked at Ryan, who had moved behind Kelsi's chair. "Even though, contrary to popular opinion, we never dated. I still love ya." He handed the rose to his wife.

"I always related to you, Kelsi. Even when we weren't really friends. You just kind of reminded me of myself. Neither one of us really fit in too well anywhere. I mean, you hung out with the drama club but were always kind of on the outside of it. I always got lumped with the smart kids, but I was always kind of on the outside too. Especially when it became known that I like to dance," Martha said with a laugh. "I know we both struggled with what other people thought about us, so we had that in common too. It's so important for us girls to stick together and when the four of us," she gestured to herself, Kelsi, Taylor and Gabriella, "became friends we all just sort of clicked pretty quickly. And then later on Sharpay joined our little group. I know sometimes we both struggled with feeling insecure, especially in comparison to the others. We kind of became each other's personal support in those times. There were so many times I was feeling bad about myself and you would encourage me. I don't think I ever would've had the courage to try out for the cheerleading squad if it wasn't for you always being there to lift me up. I don't know what I would do without your friendship," she finished, tears in her eyes. "Zeke?"

"We have a pretty interesting friendship, I think," Zeke started, taking the rose from Martha and studying Kelsi. "It's a little different from my friendships with everyone in the group and a large part of that has to do with Ryan and Sharpay. Getting involved with an Evans meant getting close to the entire family, as you know. Which of course meant that we became better friends as a result. Now I consider you to be one of my best friends and, like the others, I love you like a sister. There's no one else I would rather share the twins with than you," he grinned at her while passing the rose to Sharpay.

"I still love how you two have claimed me and Ryan for yourselves," Sharpay said, to Zeke, with a giggle. "Even if it does make us sound like shares of real estate. But anyway," she said, turning her attention to Kelsi, "our friendship got off to a rocky start, especially considering how much I terrorized you. Out of everyone else in the group, you were probably the person with the biggest reason not to welcome me as a friend. But you did. Even after everything I put you through. That says so much about you, Kelsi. As far as I'm concerned we are sisters – in every way that matters. Out of anyone who could've laid a claim on my brother, I'm so happy it was you. And I'm happy that he was smart enough to go after you in the first place. I used to think no one could possibly know him as well as I do, but I was wrong. You're the absolute perfect person for my brother. I love you...sis." She handed the rose to Vance.

"You, and Zeke, have meant so much to our family and there couldn't be anyone better suited for either of our children. You all balance each other out and bring out the best in each other. You have done so much for our family, Kelsi, and we will always be so grateful to you for that. I always hoped that my son would find a girl that would love him as much as Derby loves me and he's found that with you. You've become like a daughter to me over the years and I love you like one." Vance said, simply, but with emotion. "Darling?"

"I think it's very easy for a mother to feel like no woman is good enough for their little boy," Derby began. "As my Ducky was growing up, I worried about that too. But then I met you and there was something so special about you. I liked you instantly and was positively thrilled when I first noticed that way Ryan felt about you. It's been so wonderful to watch the love between the two of you grow. You are such a lovely young woman and you mean so much to our family. When I think of my children, I think of four people and not two. Because I love Zeke like a son and you like a daughter. You have been an absolute blessing and a joy to have around," Derby said softly. "I love you, sweetheart." She then handed the rose over to Ryan, who moved to the front of Kelsi's chair and knelt down.

"See baby...you make all of our lives better just by being the person that you are," he started. "There is so much love for you here. When I started talking to everyone about this rose thing I wanted to do for you, they all instantly wanted to help. They all wanted to be a part of it because they all wanted you to know how much you're loved. Some of the roses you've gotten today only apply to us and our relationship, but a lot of them could be true for anyone here. Like loving you for your gentle spirit or for admiring your talents. So many of them are reasons why everyone else loves you too. The words spoken to you just now only just begin to explain why you mean so much to everyone here. This rose is from each of us and I hope that every time you look at it, you remember how much you are loved. Not just by me. But by everyone."

"Oh," Kelsi sniffled as she took the rose from him. "I don't even know what to say. I love you all," she said softly, motioning for Ryan to stand up. She got to her feet as well and slipped her arms around his neck. "You're going to be the death of me today...you keep making me cry," she whispered in his ear. He cuddled her closer.

"That was kind of my goal," he whispered back, kissing the top of her head. "I think you're going to be getting passed around now," he adding, noticing that just about everyone else had gotten up and was closing in. He eased back, giving her another kiss on her forehead. Sure enough, Kelsi soon found herself being hugged by every other person individually. Ryan moved just outside of the group and smiled as he watched Kelsi continued to be showered with love by the people she cared about the most.

"So this was what, rose twenty four?" Jason asked as he stepped back to join him.

"Yep. One more rose left," Ryan answered with a nod. He turned towards his father, who was still waiting for a chance to hug Kelsi. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes it is, son," Vance grinned at him. "Are you?"

"I've never been more ready for anything in my entire life."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Well here we are.** **150 reviews and I don't know how many alerts and favorites and here we are. At the final rose. This was a hard chapter to write because I've really enjoyed writing this story. I think this story may be the best thing I have ever written so the fact that people have responded like they have is incredible. Thank you all SO much for all the support! To everyone who has been reviewing, whether it's been every chapter or even just one chapter. To everyone who has been reading, even if they don't review. To everything who has taken an interest in this story let me say it again: THANK YOU!!! You guys are awesome. So awesome, in fact, that you get a bonus chapter! To be posted right away. It's an epilogue of sorts, though it takes place like an hour or so after this chapter ends. I think it's safe to say you all know what's going to happen here, but I did try to throw in a few surprises. Very long chapter, just so warn you. Hope you like it!**

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After everyone had finished hugging Kelsi, they had all moved to the dining room to have dinner and then had cut into a delicious birthday cake that Zeke had made. The meal was wonderful and afterwards it seemed like the party would continue well into the night. Kelsi started to follow the group back into the living room but was intercepted by Ryan, who seemed slightly nervous for some reason.

"What do you say we sneak away from everyone else for a little while?" he asked her.

"I'd like that," she smiled. "After all, I was hoping I'd get to have you all to myself again at some point tonight, remember?"

"I do," he said, studying her intently for a moment before offering her his hand.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Just outside."

"Don't we need coats?" she wanted to know.

"Not where we're going. There are a few space heaters set up out there. It won't be as warm as it is in here, but we won't freeze to death either," he assured her.

"Good to know." She smiled as she realized that they were headed for the tennis court. "I should've figured."

"What?"

"The tennis court...we've had some great moments out there. Like that dance you guys threw during our senior year."

"Funny you should mention that..." he said, grinning at her while he opened the door. She let out a gasp as she noticed that the tennis court had once again been transformed into a winter wonderland of sorts. "I decide that this time it should just be the two of us. Consider this your Valentine's Day present."

"You've already given me Valentine's Day presents...the roses and all that?" she reminded him. He chuckled.

"All of that is your _birthday_ present," he informed her. "This is strictly for Valentine's Day."

"You didn't have to go through the trouble to set this up," she said softly. "Especially considering everything else you've done for me today."

"Well technically, the staff went through the trouble," he said thoughtfully. "Though I should tell you that all of them were happy to do it because they all happen to like you."

"That was very sweet of them," she said, smiling. "You'll have to tell me who all helped out so I can thank them personally."

"I'll do that," he nodded. "Later. Now..." he walked over to the edge of the court and picked up some sort of remote and a few seconds later Kelsi heard music playing. "Now I just want to dance with you."

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"This all feels like a dream. A wonderful, amazing dream," she said later on as she let him continue to lead her around the makeshift dance floor. "I keep expecting to wake up, but I never do."

"That's because it's not a dream," he said softly. "This is all very real."

"I feel a little bad," she admitted after a moment.

"About what?"

"You went through all this trouble for me today and yeah, I gave you a present for Valentine's Day yesterday, back when I thought I wouldn't see you today. But...it just seems like you're doing all of this and getting nothing in return. Or almost nothing."

"Are you kidding? I get you," he smiled at her. "That's the only gift I need and I get to have that every single day."

"Oh Ryan," she sighed. "How'd you get to be so sweet?"

"Lots of sugar growing up," he said, seriously.

"You're such a dork," she giggled. "But I love you anyway."

"Hey speaking of presents...I just remembered something," he started. He pointed past her to a little table that Kelsi hadn't even noticed. "Martha came up with a project for you and all of the rest of our friends helped out."

"What is it?" she asked, curious.

"Go look," he said. She slipped out of her arms and towards the table, noticing the wrapped package that sat on it. She peeled off the wrapping paper and found what looked to be a scrapbook and pulled it out of the box. She smiled as she started flipping through the pages. It looked like every one of her friends had done a few pages, though she suspected the guys had all had help doing theirs. Kelsi noticed that there were pictures in there ranging from their high school days to her Julliard years, along with a couple of written messages scattered throughout. She let out a surprised gasp when she noted that there was even a couple of pages in there from her old college roommate, Annie.

"Oh hey, there's a couple of pages from you in here," Kelsi said softly, to Ryan, smiling again as she looked at all of the pictures. She reached the last page and stopped, noticing that there was a piece of paper stuck in the back that wasn't a part of the book. "What's this?" she asked, pulling it out. Not waiting for him to answer, she set the scrapbook back on the table and opened up the note...

_My beautiful Kelsi,_

_So here we are. You've gone to a variety of places and been given multiple roses of both different colors and meanings. The roses you've collected have served as reminders of reasons why I love you so much. By now you even have more of an idea of what you mean to our family and friends. You should know that out of everything you've heard or read today, that it only covers a small part of why I love you. Now we have reached the end of our journey with the roses and you have one left. You'll notice that this rose, when you see it, is white. My first choice for this rose was red because it's such a powerful symbol of love and fidelity. But while doing my research for this, I learned that the white rose – in addition to its other meanings – can symbolize a love that is stronger than death. They can represent a love that endures the test of time, a love that is both deep and spiritual. This is the type of love that we have, honey, a kind of love that will only grow stronger as we spend the rest of our lives together. And speaking of that...it might be a good idea for you to turn around._

Kelsi turned around slowly and nearly felt her heart stop at the sight of him. Sometime while she was reading the note, he had eased himself down into his current position. Kneeling down on one knee. "Oh my God," she whispered, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Come here," he said gently, holding out a hand for her. He held a gorgeous white rose in his other hand and a small black box was on the ground by his foot.

"Oh my God," she repeated. She half walked and half stumbled back towards him, fully expecting her legs to give out on her at any second. As soon as she reached him she gripped onto his hand and held onto it like a lifeline. "Ryan..."

"You're not going to pass out on me are you?" he teased her. Kelsi felt her knees knocking against each other as she pondered the question. Her heart had started beating so fast that she was almost waiting for it to come bursting out of her chest and into his hands.

"That remains to be seen," she managed, tightening her grip on his hand.

"Kelsi, I..." he started.

"Yes!" she blurted out before he could finish.

"I haven't said anything yet," he pointed out, amused.

"Oh," she said stupidly. "Right. Sorry."

"So usually a guy only gets down in this position for one reason and one reason only. To ask the woman he loves a very important question," he began. "It's a question I've been wanting to ask you for a very long time, but just haven't known how to go about doing it. Now I've gotten to a point where I don't think I can go another day without asking you..."

"Yes!" she exclaimed, cutting him off again.

"I haven't asked you yet," he said, with a small laugh. "Though I love the enthusiasm."

"I'm sorry," she said, letting out a nervous laugh of her own. "I can't help it!"

"Well you know," he said, his eyes twinkling. "I think it's safe to say you know what the question is and I'm pretty sure that I know your answer so maybe we can just leave it at that. I mean, I did have a great speech all planned but I don't _have_ to be give it." He moved like he was going to stand up, setting the rose on the ground beside him in the process.

"No!" she protested. "I want to hear it. I'll be good and keep my mouth shut until you're done, okay? In fact, look." She brought her free hand up to cover her mouth. A split second later her eyes widened and she pulled the hand away, noting that it was her left hand. "Oh no, you need this one don't you?" she asked quickly. "Here, switch. You take this one, I'll use the other one to keep my mouth shut so I don't interrupt you. Again." He shook his head, smiling, as he dutifully grabbed hold of her left hand. She then brought her right hand up and covered her mouth with it, determined not to interrupt him again.

"Kelsi Nielsen," he began, kissing her hand, "you are the cutest person in the world." He let out another chuckle, still amused by her antics, and then slowly sobered. "You know...it's funny. Growing up, anytime anyone ever asked me about my future I would tell them that I saw the bright lights and sounds of Broadway in it. I saw lit marquees and crowds of people giving standing ovations. That was always my dream. And now we're in New York City together, each of us working to make our dreams come true. I don't know what's going to happen there. Maybe Sharpay is right and we'll end up taking over Broadway like we've wanted to for so long. Maybe we won't. I have no way of knowing for certain. I'm still holding out hope that those dreams will come true. I'm still determined to work as hard as possible in order to make them happen. But now, whenever someone asks me about what I see in my future, the picture has changed. Because now when I think about my future the main thing I see is you." His eyes softened as he looked up at her. "I see you and me buying our first apartment together. I see us maybe having an apartment in New York and a house here in Albuquerque. I see family dinners and happy holidays. I see you pregnant with my baby, our baby, and I see us struggling to get used to being parents. I see a family room full of pictures and laughter and toys. I see a little girl, a little version of you, practicing scales on the piano and a little version of me in there dancing along. Maybe there's more kids in there too, I don't know. I see us nervously dropping them off on their first day of school and I see us taking care of them when they get sick. I see us worrying about them making friends and, as they get older, I see us struggling with raising teenagers." He let out a short laugh. "I see you trying to keep me from having a coronary the first time our little girl brings a boyfriend home. I see you crying at graduations and wedding days and later on I can even see us as grandparents. And then I see us introducing yet another generation to great musicals, like my grandparents did for me and my sister. I see us together, old and wrinkly, sitting out on a porch swing and holding hands. I see you with gray hair and me hopefully still having hair." He paused. "It doesn't matter how far in the future I look. You're always there."

"Oh," Kelsi whispered, barely able to see through her tears. His voice grew slightly more serious.

"Kelsi...I don't think there's another man on the planet who could love you like I do. And I don't think...well actually, I _know_ that there isn't another woman on the planet who could love me like you do. I think I was born to love you and I want to spend the rest of my life coming up with new ways to love you. To show you how much I love you. I want to be the best husband I can be to you if you'll have me, and the best father I can be to any children we may have." He paused, tears rolling down his face, as he reached for something behind him. To Kelsi's surprise, it was another rose – this one red. He momentarily let go of her hand and picked up the white rose he had laid down beside him. "Both the white and red rose are a symbol for true love and I found out that when given together, they mean unity and harmony." As she watched, he very carefully twisted the stems of the roses together and used what looked like a hair tie to secure them so that they stayed intertwined. "Something else I found out that I thought was interesting was that not only do the colors of the rose have meanings, but so do the numbers of them. You have gotten twenty four roses today so far...twenty four roses can be a symbol for all of the hours in the day. Getting that many roses usually means that you are being thought about all day by the person doing the giving. It is also the giver's way of saying that they are yours." He smiled at her. "Both of those are certainly true. If I'm not with you, I'm usually thinking about you. You're always there in the back of my mind, no matter what I'm doing. And I am most certainly yours." He tilted his head. "Do you know what two roses given at the same time means?"

Kelsi shook her head, positive that she wouldn't have been able to speak if she had tried to.

"Two roses together means a couple of things. One, it symbolizes mutual love and says that not only are we a couple, but also that the bond between us is inseparable and that there isn't anything that can come between us. And to tie into that, they represent an upcoming marriage or engagement," he began, "which I find to be very appropriate because all of that ties into what I was just saying." He held up the two roses and took a deep breath. "Kelsi Nielsen...I love you with all of my heart and soul and I want to build a life and a family with you." He looked deep into her eyes as he continued. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you marry me?" Kelsi let out a sob as she nodded. She took the roses from him with a shaking hand and was practically bouncing when she felt him slide the ring onto her finger. She waited, not so patiently, while he got to his feet and then launched herself at him. They held onto each other tightly for several seconds, both of them still crying. She eased back to look at her face.

"I love you so much, Ryan Evans," she whispered, bringing her mouth to his in a kiss that soon turned passionate. He was grinning when she pulled away.

"We're getting married," he said simply.

"We're getting married!" she exclaimed, adding in a series of little hops that made him laugh.

"You're a funny person, Kelsi," he said, shaking his head. "First you accept before I ask...twice. But when I do ask, you don't say anything at all." She let out a gasp.

"Oh, you're right! That's no good," she exclaimed. "Ask me again."

"What?" he asked.

"Ask me again," she repeated, sniffling. "I'm determined to get this right."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Ask again."

"Okay," he chuckled. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," she said softly. She then grinned at him and tilted her head back, this time shouting her answer to the sky above. "Yes!"

"I said it earlier, but I love the enthusiasm," he beamed at her.

"Oh we're getting married," she sighed, leaning in to kiss him again. She gasped as she pulled away. "Oh my gosh."

"What?"

"We have to plan a wedding!"

"That might help, yes," he nodded. She giggled.

"Oh, I always dreamed of getting married in a beautiful church and having my dad walk me down the aisle," she smiled. "With beautiful flowers and music and a gorgeous white dress. And you, of course, looking all handsome in a nice suit." She let out another sigh. "Though..."

"Though..." he echoed. "Though what?" She gave him a sheepish smile.

"As much as I want that wedding a part of me wishes we could get married right now. I don't want to wait to be your wife," she admitted, somewhat shyly. "I wish we could...I wish we could get married tonight and then, I don't know...maybe we could have that big church wedding sometime down the road." She laughed, amused at herself. "That sounds silly, I know. I just wish we could do both somehow." He nodded, as if he was considering the idea.

"Okay."

"Okay what?" she asked, snuggling up to him.

"If that's what you want...let's do it." He looked so serious that Kelsi froze.

"Do what?" she whispered.

"Get married tonight and then we could arrange to have that big church wedding you've always wanted on our anniversary," he said simply.

"You're..." she gaped at him, waiting for any indication that he was joking. She didn't find any. "You're not serious."

"Sure I am," he said.

"But...but...that's not possible..." she stammered.

"Why not?" he asked, gently. "Neither one of us wants to wait and the people we love the most are right inside the house."

"But what about a minister? Or rings? Or a marriage license? Or...or...I don't know...don't you need to do a blood test before you get married?" He smiled at her.

"What if I told you that we had everything we need? The minister, the rings, the license, the blood test even."

"How is that possible?"

"When I told my parents that I was going to propose they decided to help out. They talked to the minister at their church and they're all friends anyway and he's here..."

"Here? Where? At the house?" she interrupted.

"Yes. You just haven't seen him," he answered. "Both of our mothers got the rings...well not the engagement ring, I got that."

"The license?" she asked, feeling like she might actually pass out after all.

"Well for one thing, I've been planning to propose today for months," he began. "The idea for the roses came later on, but my parents knew I was going to ask you to marry me on Valentine's Day and my mom had a feeling you'd probably want to get married as soon as possible, so she recommended getting one..." he trailed off.

"Don't we both have to do that?" she pressed.

"The Evans name carries a lot of weight with it...we just needed an I.D. for you..."

"And where'd you get that?"

"Remember when my mom wanted to look at your passport over Christmas and then lost it?" he asked.

"Yeah, that was so random. She...." Kelsi trailed off. "That was...that whole thing was a set up, wasn't it?"

"You could say that," he grinned at her. "As far as the blood test...most states don't require them anymore. New Mexico being one of them." For a while she just gaped at him.

"So you're telling me that we could get married now and it'd be legal?"

"That's what I'm telling you, yes," he confirmed. "If you want to that is." He looked a little uncertain for a moment. "My parents were the ones that thought we should plan for all of that in case you did, but we don't have to," he started, but Kelsi kissed him to cut him off.

"Let's do it." He blinked.

"Really?"

"Really," she grinned. "I told you...I don't want to wait. Not if we don't have to."

"We're getting married," he smiled at her.

"We're getting married," she repeated and then squealed. "Tonight!"

-----------------------------

If anyone had told Kelsi that her day would have ended with a wedding ceremony, she would have thought they were crazy. Everything had come together so quickly that the first part of the ceremony seemed to pass by in a blur. Or maybe that was because she was so caught up in Ryan that the other details had faded into the background. She forced herself to listen to the minister now, however, because they were about to do their wedding vows. They had decided on using traditional wedding vows, figuring they could always do something different when they renewed their vows on their anniversary.

"Please repeat after me," the minister said, smiling. "I, Ryan, take you, Kelsi, to be my lawfully wedded wife."

"I, Ryan, take you, Kelsi, to be my lawfully wedded wife," Ryan gave Kelsi's hands a light squeeze as he spoke.

"My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward," the minister continued.

"My constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward," Ryan repeated.

"In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner."

"In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner," Ryan echoed.

"In sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as sorrow," the minister went on, pausing after every sentence or phrase so Ryan could repeat it, "I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live." The minister smiled again as Ryan finished and turned to Kelsi. "Please repeat about me," he said, "I, Kelsi, take you, Ryan, to be my lawfully wedded husband."

"I, Kelsi," she whispered, amazed that she could speak at all through her tears, "take you, Ryan, to be my lawfully wedded husband..."

--------------------------------

"Ryan, place this ring on Kelsi's finger and repeat after me," the minister instructed. "This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you."

"This ring I give to you," Ryan repeated, gently sliding the ring into her finger as he spoke, "as a token of my love and devotion to you."

"I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your husband," the minister continued.

"I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your husband."

"With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours," the minister finished.

"With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours," Ryan repeated, his voice breaking halfway through.

"Kelsi," the minister said, giving her a warm smile," place this ring on Ryan's finger and repeat after me: This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you."

"This ring I give to you as a token of my love and devotion to you," she echoed, softly.

"I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your wife," he continued.

"I pledge to you all that I am and all that I will ever be as your wife."

"With this ring, I gladly marry you and join my life to yours," the minister finished.

"With this ring," Kelsi broke off on a small sob before she continued, "I gladly marry you and join my life to yours." The minister went into his closing remarks at that point, though if anyone were to ask Kelsi what he had said she wouldn't have had a clue because she was, once again, completely caught up in Ryan.

"By the power vested in me by the State of New Mexico," he said, finally, "I now pronounce you husband and wife," he smiled at them. "You may now kiss the bride."

"I love you," Kelsi whispered to Ryan as he leaned in towards her. He smiled brightly in response.

"I love you too," he whispered back, giving her a chaste kiss. There were several loud sobs at that point and Kelsi knew that at least two of them had belonged to her mother and Derby.

"Ladies and gentlemen," the minister began, "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Evans." Kelsi linked her hand with Ryan's and beamed at her family and friends as they all stood up, clapping.

"It's about time!" Sharpay cried out, causing Zeke to roll his eyes good-naturedly in response.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Bonus scene! It's pretty short, especially compared to all the other chapters. It was originally going to be part of the last chapter, but I cut it out because otherwise I felt the chapter would be way too long. It's still pretty long, but better than it would have been. Now...before we get to the scene, there's some things I would love some input on. First a story update: hoping to both update Then You Stand and finish up Little Glimpses soon, so watch out for those. In addition to those, I want to start a new story. My current problem is that I have at least four stories I want to start at some point and I can't decide which one to do first. This is where you all come in. I'll give a really brief summary of each for you all and you can tell me which, if any, you'd like to see first. All of them will get written at some point, I just don't want to start too many stories at once, especially since I'm still working on Then You Stand. So here are the options:**

**Story #1: the sequel to 25 roses, currently untitled. This one will similar to this story, but will have a twist. That's all I'm going to tell you right now. :)**

**Story #2: Last Name - the gang, all over 21 and most likely in their mid-20s by this point, head to Vegas in order to celebrate Troy and Gabriella's wedding. Kelsi, never having been much of a drinker, soon learns what can happen when one has too much to drink. Also will have a subplot featuring Zeke and Sharpay.**

**Story #3: tentatively titled The Broken Road - Ryan and Kelsi gather their friends and families together to celebrate their wedding and reflect back on the broken road that brought them to this day. Inspired by "Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts. Lots of angst.**

**Story #4: currently untitled. Takes place during their senior year. Kelsi should be happy: after all, she has great friends and has been dating Ryan for several months. She's also going to get a chance to write the music for the spring musical, even though that's still months away. But her home life isn't all that great and something happens that makes Kelsi wonder if she can trust anyone. Including Ryan. Whole lot of angst involved here.**

**Thanks guys! Hope you enjoy your bonus scene! I mention it in the scene, but the poem featured at the end is _Love's Garden_ by Katharine Lee Bates. :-)**

* * *

Epilogue

"You have got to be kidding me," Kelsi said, later on, as they stood outside of one of the most expensive hotel rooms in one of the most expensive hotels in Albuquerque.

"You can thank my dad for this," Ryan said, slightly surprised as well. He knew that his father had arranged for them to stay at a hotel, but he had never imagined it would be this one. He shook his head as he stuck the key in the door. It was just before midnight and most of their friends were still at the mansion celebrating. Ryan and Kelsi would see them all again the next day, but had decided to slip away from the festivities for what had now become their wedding night.

"Ryan Evans," Kelsi began. "First you leave me all alone on my birthday. Then I start getting all of these roses telling me how much and why you love me. Then I get to see all of my friends and family for a party...thrown for me, no less. Then you propose." She shook her head as she continued, "then we _get married_ and now we're about to spend the night here in one of the most expensive hotels in the city. This has got to be the single most incredible day of my life..."

"Yeah," he agreed, grinning at her as set their bags in the room. "Man, I'm good." He eyed her, looking back and forth between her and the door. "You know, Kelsi, I do believe that it is traditional for the man to carry his wife over the threshold on their wedding night."

"Yeah...what's up with that tradition? I mean..." she trailed off and let out a small shriek as she found herself being picked up. "Oh no." She shook her head. "You are not seriously going to carry me over the threshold."

"Why not?"

"The door frame looks rather small all of a sudden," she winced.

"Kelsi, I'm not going to running at the door at full speed," he laughed. "I'd just as well have you conscious."

"Encouraging," she said, dryly. "Don't you think this is a little silly?"

"Maybe a little," he admitted. "But it's romantic too. Don't you think?" She peered inside the room as best as she could and then looked back into his eyes. Thinking about what would happen shortly after they made it into said room was enough to fill her stomach up with butterflies and she was very grateful she didn't have to worry about trying to keep herself standing.

"Well...," she smiled at him. "Maybe a little." She snuggled against him as he walked into the hotel room, turning sideways so that he wouldn't bump her head against the door frame.

"See?" he said, gently closing the door with his foot. "I got you over the threshold in one piece." He took a couple of steps and she suddenly felt a shot of panic creep in along with the butterflies as she spotted the bed.

"Wait," she said softly. "The door...we should probably lock it...to be safe and all," she stammered, growing increasingly nervous.

"Okay." He kept his voice low, in an attempt to soothe and turned back towards the door. She managed to lock it with a shaky hand. "Kelsi...baby...look at me." She slowly turned her head back to look at him, bringing her hand back around his neck, and focusing her gaze on his eyes. "This is new for both of us...we don't have to rush anything. It'll be fine...just trust me," he said, gently. She gulped and nodded.

"I...I do," she whispered, oddly comforted to see that he looked a little nervous as well. "I trust you completely." She gently pulled him closer, tilting her head up so that she could kiss him. "And I love you," she murmured and then smiled against his lips. "My husband."

"I like the sound of that," he smiled back at her. "And I love you too...my wife...happy birthday, baby."

"Happy Valentine's Day," she beamed at him, holding on tightly as he slowly started walking them towards the bed.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he echoed, softly. He gently lowered her onto the bed and eased himself over her as she reached for him. He leaned in to kiss her and then paused, lightly running a finger down her face. "You are the most beautiful woman in the world," he whispered, kissing her briefly. "Just like how the rose is the most beautiful flower."

"Back to roses, huh?" she giggled softly.

"Back to roses," he echoed, kissing her again. The kiss was longer this time. "I may have said it before...I honestly don't remember." Another kiss. "But as beautiful as the rose is...it doesn't even hold a candle to you."

"How about twenty five roses?" she asked. "Or I guess I should say twenty six." He kissed her again, stealing her breath this time. He eased back to study her.

"Twenty six roses are definitely very beautiful," he nodded, "but even they don't hold a candle to you."

"Oh Ryan," she sighed dreamily. "I love you so much." He brought his mouth to her ear.

"I know," he whispered, making her shiver. "But I still love you more."

------------------

"Love planted a rose,  
And the world turned sweet,  
Where the wheatfield blows  
Love planted a rose.  
Up the mill-wheel's prose  
Ran a music beat.  
Love planted a rose,  
And the world turned sweet."

_Love's Garden_ – Katharine Lee Bates

**The End.**


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